A Satori's Tale
by Antimatter625
Summary: Satori has to earn her keep, so she leaves her happy little bubble to go work. Be warned, this is a fairly dark work. It gets a bit bloody, as well. I hope you enjoy it.
1. Chapter 1

_**Former Hell,**__** Chireiden**_

Satori sat in her chair, wearing her customary floral pink skirt and blue blouse. Her third eye rested easily over her heart, six veins leaving it and securing it to her arms, head, and chest. She was gently petting one of her pets, content in its contentment and reading a new book leisurely, recently brought to her from the surface by Orin. Ever since Utsuho had regained control over herself, things had settled calmly back into a daily routine. Of course, nothing in Gensokyo stays routine for long, and Satori was rather surprised to see the Yama appear in front of her.

**Ah, good, she's still here. **"Greetings once again, Satori Komeiji."

"To what do I owe this honor?" Satori sent her pet on its way, and it left, unnerved at the presence of the Yama.

**Formal and to the point. I'll be direct as well, then. I've come here to inform her that the blazing hells are needed once more. Hopefully she's kept them ready. **"I've come to tell you that the blazing hells are ready to be reopened. How soon can they be ready?" The Yama stated.

"Of course. We've kept them on standby, so we could get back to full operation within a few hours. The flame keeper was recently fed a sun god, so maintaining the heat has been easy."

**Impressive. It's been several hundred years. **The Yama silently contemplated.

"I could look up the exact date, but yes, it has been a while. Any particular reason the hells are being restarted now?"

**More traffic, more budget, needed to restart…**The Yama wasn't sure which point to mention first, but Satori answered for her as she was collecting her thoughts.

"Finally able to, it seems. I suppose we'll finally have to do some work down here, hm?" Satori smiled wryly.

**I've got to tell her to stop interrupting so much… **"You should-" The Yama started, sounding a little annoyed.

"Mind my manners more, yes, I know. I don't need to hear it again…"

**Have I said that before? No, I'm sure that was the first time I said that.**"That was the first time I've said it."

"Right. Of course. Is there anything else?" Satori remained calm, but the conversation was wearing on. The Yama was always ratherdispleasing to speak with, despite her lack of hatred. Satori minded her manners as best as she could and respected the Yama, but the Yama had a tendency to repeat things over in her mind several times before speaking them. To make the matters even worse, the Yama's thoughts were uncomfortably powerful… the sensation was not unlike having an ear be calmly yelled into. Satori realized that interrupting the Yama would lead to trouble, so she did her best to keep her mouth shut.

**Right, I should probably tell her we might need her help.**"I think we might need your help if traffic keeps this high."

"Well, I'll do what I can. A small price for being able to live in such a grand palace, really."

**Well, she's qualified… Don't want it to be needed, other satori aren't around… I really hope ****it doesn't come to it, but as the only satori around, she's one of the few even remotely qualified for the position as a judge.** "I really hope it doesn't come to this, but we may need you to use your abilities as a satori to serve as a sort of temporary judge." She spoke into Satori's shocked expression. There was a moment of silence… **What is she thinking? Probably that she's not capable? Well, there's not really any proof one way of another yet.**

"Something… like that, yes. Well. I do hope it doesn't come to that. It seems like a rather stressful job, and I'd really much rather not have to deal with it, but if I must, then I will. I suppose there aren't any others that would really work, are there?"

**None I'd trust. Some shikaisen recently arrived from outside might be of some help, but I suspect they'd refuse on principle, and they're not to be trusted with matters of death in any case. Others might have the good judgment, but lack the ability to use the mirror or any other information gathering, which would slow it too much… no, only a satori even might work, and even that's mostly hypothetical.**The Yama paused and considered the question before answering. "No, not really. Only a satori would really work, and even then it's mostly hypothetical."

"I understand. If there isn't anything else, then?"

**If she -does- end up needing to judge, she'll be called on to wield a rod of remorse for a while… she should probably perform some spiritual cleansing.**"You should probably perform some spiritual cleansing. You may end up needing to bear the weight of your own sins while serving."

Satori frowned. "I really hope it won't come to that, but it never hurts to be prepared. I'll take your advice." Satori waited, but the Yama seemed to decide the conversation was over.

**Farewell.**"Farewell." The Yama said, before leaving as suddenly as she came.

Satori let out a long sigh. Hells, that had gotten tedious. At least youkai and humans had some interesting thoughts behind their words. And were quieter. Well, she should probably record this and get to work restarting the hells then. It wouldn't do to keep the Yama waiting.

* * *

_**A Short While**__** Later...**_

Satori sat at a desk, writing down her memories of the conversation, while a hypnotized pet heard and saw the tale recounted via some basic magic. Satori finished with the book, pulled another one down, and added a simple line to the current index. She then released the hell raven's hypnosis and absentmindedly fed it some snacks to keep it happy while she used techniques honed from long years of practice and research to store the memories neatly within her mind. By the time she had finished, the ink was dry, and she returned the books to her shelf.

Satori reached up and grabbed another index, corresponding to her first years here at Chireiden. She thumbed through it and found which book she had written the details of how to restart the blazing hell, when the Yama had told her all those years ago. She told the hell raven to go find Orin and Okuu and bring them to her, as well; they could probably do with seeing the procedure themselves.

She fed it another snack and it flew off, Satori's suggestion carrying no small hypnotic weight as well. She had long since learned that the natives here, and the hell ravens in particular, failed to follow directions due in large part to their very… simple minds, so she had gotten in the habit of coupling her requests with a hypnotic suggestion, which had solved that problem smoothly. She found the book indicated in her index, turned the page to the entry, and began reading it at a rapid pace while she waited.

* * *

In the ten or so minutes it took for her most distinguished pets to arrive, Satori had finished reading the instructions.

_I wonder how we can help her._ Orin smiled, positive feelings flowing from her and reaffirming Satori's sense of self. Of course, Okuu was no less helpful in that regard, though her thoughts were more scattered: _Oh! It was Satori that called us! Why? Oh no! I hope nothing's wrong._

Satori chuckled. "No, no, I'm quite alright. Actually, I've got some instructions you need to pay attention to. Fortunately, they're already in your heads, but I think a refresher would be wise. Now, please don't interrupt until we're finished, and just watch this."

Satori conjured a hypnotic pattern, and her two pets were almost immediately fascinated by it. She smiled fondly at the response. Their minds may have grown substantially, but they were still beast youkai at heart, filled with basic needs and basic desires. Once they were entranced, she subtly shifted the pattern and spoke soothing directions to them to ease the memories she had long ago implanted from hidden, rarely used corners of their minds. She watched the image through their minds, falling partially into her own hypnosis through theirs. This part had taken years of training, but she managed to remain in control of her mind enough to begin playing the memory in short order, copying it into their active memories as she did so.

Satori observed her centuries-old conversation with the Yama as the Yama used diagrams and magical illusions to illustrate each of the necessary tasks, and Satori-of-Then read the Yama's thoughts, partially enraptured, receiving additional help in understanding the complexity of the tasks from the Yama's own mind. The Satori-of-Now couldn't help but be amused at the expression of wonder on the Satori-of-Then's face. She vaguely recalled how overwhelmed she had been by the Yama's presence, but continued watched the demonstrations. Once the conversation was finished, the old Yama left, and Satori-of-Now lowered the lid of her third eye slightly, falling back into her own senses and discontinuing the hypnotic pattern.

Orin and Okuu looked pensive. They seemed to be trying to focus and keep the thoughts that had just resurfaced into their minds there. Satori watched them struggle, and although Orin was managing fairly well, Satori decided to give Okuu a bit of a nudge… She conjured up another illusion for Okuu and, with Okuu in such a suggestive state, carefully molded the memory to fit in Okuu's tiny mind. She released it and saw that Orin had finished memorizing the procedure. Well, enough of it, anyway. It was complex enough that it filled most of their current thoughts, so Satori didn't waste any time, quickly putting away the books and leaving with her two pets. If they were going to meet the self-imposed deadline, Satori herself would have to get her hands dirty, and leaving the Ministry of Right and Wrong waiting was simply not an option.

* * *

_**Late That Evening**_

Satori was drained. They had indeed managed to get the hells up and running in time, and Orin and Okuu were at work keeping things running smoothly. The toll, however, had almost been more than Satori was able to handle. She had to focus on putting one foot in front of another en route to her room. Her every motion made her body ache, and her limited reserves of magical strength were completely tapped, preventing even basic flight. She had had to use most of it opening some chambers to properly funnel the flames.

In manners of the mind, she had met few equals, and of course she had far more magical skill than even most magicians could ever hope to muster, having learned such skills from masters in the past in a very direct manner. However, having the most efficient solution for most tasks, whether physical or magical, had prevented her from needing to push her endurance and strength. Experiences like today reminded her that sometimes those were simply necessary. Thankfully Orin and Okuu had been able to finish what she started, but Satori still cursed her frail body and insufficient magical reserves.

She slammed her shin against something and collapsed forward. Fortunately, her subconscious seemed to have guided her toward her bed, and though the pain in her shin throbbed, the comfortable sheets drowned it out, along with everything else, as she fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

_**The Next Day**_

Satori awakened a long while later, her back and neck sore from the awkward position she had slept in. She yawned as she got up, surveying her condition. Apart from every fiber of her physical and magical being feeling sore, and still being low on energy, she felt… Well, no, actually she felt pretty awful. She hadn't pushed herself that hard for a long while. She had some ideas as to how to streamline the procedure for the next time the hells needed to be restarted, and she made a mental note to add that idea to her archive so she could implement it later.

For now, though, she needed some more rest. She shambled out of her room and saw a blaze cat chasing a hell raven, intent on catching and mauling it. Apparently, the cat thought the raven had stolen a corpse that the blaze cat had been saving. The raven, naturally, had no idea what was going on and was just trying to get away.

Satori smiled at their antics: "Just don't hurt her too much if you catch her." The cat gave an affirmative thought but kept chasing, and the hell raven paid no mind at all to the comment, its mind somewhat focused on other things.

Feeling a little better already, she made her way to her bath. Once there, she conjured some water into the basin and slipped a piece of meat under it. A salamander quickly came to grab it and while it was eating it, Satori asked if it to heat the basin. Salamanders enjoyed tight spaces, so Satori had used magic and some more old fashioned methods to construct a network of tunnels under and around Chireiden that opened into the hell of blazing fires where they had formerly lived. While the tunnels were rather hot, they were nothing compared to what a salamander could do. The basin itself had taken no small effort to acquire. An oni in the village had made it on commission to withstand such heat, though it hadn't been cheap.

She used a bit of magic to disrobe, allowing her clothes to literally fall through her to the floor, then stepped into the basin and sank comfortably into it. She called out thanks to the salamander, which, having finished its meal, was now moving away. Satori felt it's mind move far away, then let out a sigh and relaxed completely. The soreness slowly melted away, and she simple relaxed for several hours, recharging her magical batteries as well. From time to time as she soaked, various inhabitants of Chireiden would walk past the room, sometimes offering a thankful thought for this or that, sometimes not even noticing her.

Feeling much refreshed, she exited the basin, emptied it the same way she had filled it, and dried herself off with a cloth she kept handy for such a purpose, then began the complicated task of donning her clothes.

Donning her clothing was a was a more complicated procedure than doffing them, as her third eye and the many veins securing it to her tended to get in the way. After several centuries of experience, she now ended up using a bit of magic to do so, phasing her third eye through parts of the clothing, securing the veins in place with specially shaped heart decorations. It was still the work of several minutes, but once fully clothed she felt much more at ease.

Leisure time finished, she left the room and went to her room to work on redesigning the startup process for ease of use. Ah, and the spiritual cleansing. Yes… she would do so soon. It wouldn't do to be ill-prepared should she be called on to judge, though she once again fervently hoped she wouldn't be.

* * *

_**One Week Later**_

Satori had completely recovered, and was sitting in the grand hall for a change, taking in the warmth of her pets and the beautiful view. She had only recently managed to hypnotize herself without needing the aid of another mind, and she was currently amusing herself and practicing her skill by altering her view of the grand hall, seeing it with a different sort of perception each time. She had been working on and off in the hells to make sure they were running smoothly, but her pets were proving quite capable at performing the jobs, needing only occasional guidance and management. Indeed, their excitement and sense of fulfillment was a refreshing change from the boredom and casual interest that typically flooded the palace. Satori still occasionally patrolled to ensure that the vengeful spirits weren't causing trouble, but she thankfully had little else to do.

She was suddenly shaken out of it by the presence of a tremendous mind.

**It seems she really likes this hall. It is unfortunate I must disturb her.**"I'm sorry to disturb you."

Satori shook her head. "No, no… it's fine. Is there a problem."

**Well, it's as I had feared. We need a temporary judge… there are just too many victims.**"It is as I had feared. We need a temporary judge. There are simply far too many for us to judge."

"I suppose it can't be helped. But… victims? Victims of what?"

**War is never a pleasant thing, truly.**"War." The Yama said, her sadness clear.

"Well, I'll help: I said I would, and I meant it. I'll just need a bit of time to give some orders to be carried out in my absence. No complaints with the hell so far, right?"

**Well, the sinners aren't terribly pleased with its presence, but apart from that, no, so…** "None of any import." **She's doing a fine job. It will reflect quite well on her when her judgment comes. **"Your fine management will reflect well on you when your judgment comes. As will your assisting us with judging, of course."

Satori nodded. "I'll just be a few minutes, then." The Yama nodded. **I wonder what she was doing in here anyway. It's a grand room, but I suppose I don't see the appeal.**Satori smiled as she walked away. She remembered from the few occasions when she'd had to see through the Yama's senses that fine differences between hues were generally missed. Satori enjoyed the subtle colors that flooded the grand hall, but from the Yama's perception, it was a rather dull gray room.

* * *

**At the Shores of the Sanzu River**_  
_

_No rest for the weary, is there? Maybe I shouldn't be ferrying them all over so fast… it seems to be stressing out Eiki. _Komachi thought to herself, busily loading passengers onto her small boat. She looked up to suddenly see not only Shikieiki Yamaxanadu, but someone else as well; a girl with purple hair, a pink skirt, a blue blouse, red and white shoes, and hearts adorning her outfit, but of course Komachi's eye was drawn to the eye present over the girl's heart.

**They haven't met, have they? Introductions, then.** "This is Satori Komeiji, and this is Komachi Onozuka." Shikieiki turned to Komachi: **Seems she's been keeping busy for once. Good, we don't have time to slack off.**"Good work, Komachi. Nice to know you can work under pressure after all."

_Oh no… someone else got dragged into this? Now I -know- I should have have taken it easier. Poor girl._

Satori, who had until this point been quietly looking at the spirits, and becoming slightly unnerved by their thoughts (which tended towards violence), turned to Komachi. "No, I came of my own volition. You've a job to do, so you should do it."

Komachi looked surprised, her thoughts as plain on her face as they were in her mind _Did I say that aloud? Oh no… If Eiki heard that…_

**What are they talking about? See, this is the exact sort of rudeness I was warning Satori against…**The Yama seemed about to speak those words, but Satori interrupted her.

"I suppose you've never met a satori, then? Hardly surprising, really. Here's the quick version: Your heart and mind are open to me. And really, your concern is appreciated, but you should probably treat your boss, this -Yama-, more formally." Satori emphasized this point by turning the the Yama and informing her. "You should probably have a heart to heart with your worker here when you get a chance."

Komachi's face was hiding it a bit better now, but her thoughts still rang in Satori's mind: _Oh no... I really hope she forgets that by the time this is all over. Her heart to hearts are so -boring-._Satori shrugged subtly, not particularly caring.

**We should get moving. The boat looks ready. **"Well, let's get going. The boat looks ready, so shall we?"

Komachi nodded. _Right. Making the journey short before she rips anything else out my mind._

"I hardly ripped it out. It was more like skimming it off the top." Satori coolly declared as she stepped into the surprisingly steady boat.

_Ohh, if she keeps it up, I might just toss her into the river. I doubt anyone would miss someone like -that-._Komachi angrily shoved off as soon as the Yama had boarded and seated herself.

**I should have known Komachi wouldn't take it well. She always seemed a bit of a secretive sort, always sneaking off like that…**

Satori sighed and waited for the undoubtedly long boat ride to end. As she waited though, she felt Komachi focus on something, and as Satori lifted her head, she saw that the other shore was already in sight, while the one they had just left was hardly any further As she watched, the other shore drew closer as Komachi propelled the boat… or was she pulling the far shore closer? It wasn't clear, but soon they were at the far shore, and Komachi's focus released.

Satori smiled. That was an interesting sort of travel. She made a note to pay closer attention on the return trip. It could prove to be a useful trick in her repertoire.

The various ghosts disembarked, as did Satori and the Yama.  
**Seems she got us here quickly. Well done.**"Our thanks for the swift transportation."

_Good riddance to bad rubbish._"No problem! Take care, boss." Komachi happily said to the Yama, while her thoughts were clearly directed at Satori. She wasted no time in shoving off back to the other side while Satori and the Yama worked. Satori felt Komachi focus herself again, and then she was gone.

**Well, she was rather rude to our guest, but I suppose it -may- be excused with the stress we're all under right now. Anyway, we're nearly there, now. Then we just need to instruct her and she'll be ready. **"We're nearly there, now. Then you'll just need a brief idea on how to judge from what your third eye shows you, and you should be ready."

"I should be able to manage…" Satori sounded confident.

**I don't think she understands the magnitude of what's going on. I wonder if she's ever read someone's mind as they've died. What would that be like...**The Yama silently thought as she walked on.

"A few times, yes. It's not particularly pleasant. It seems they're generally quite content to pass on, from what I've seen."

**That's a relief. If she's been around death, she should be fine.**"That's a relief. You should be fine if you've been around death like that."

Satori nodded. She had known there would be death involved: she was judging the dead.

If Shikieiki could have read the mind of the satori maiden, she might have been able to spare her a great deal of pain.

* * *

_**Within the Ministry of Right and Wrong**_

Satori sat in her chair. Getting into her new uniform had been tremendously difficult and tiring. Most clothes simply were not made to accommodate her third eye and its attachments comfortably. It had taken no small amount of effort to adjust her body to be able to get the outfit on under her third eye, as usual, but she had managed. Now, she looked not unlike Shikieiki herself, though with a few of her extra heart decorations to keep her third eye's veins in place.

She looked over the room, remembering what she had been taught over the past few hours, and sat, nervous. She lifted the rod of remorse once more, and though far from the featherweight the Yama had claimed it would be for a pure soul, its weight was manageable, even with Satori's relatively low strength.

The oni who was dealing with her paperwork approached her, carrying the first soul's dishearteningly large file. _A new judge? Not everyday you see that. I suppose it makes sense, though... It's been way too busy. Crazy eye, though. Must be her mirror... she doesn't have one proper. Whatever, my job's just to give her the papers and ready the rods._"Here you go, miss. It should be here in a minute. I'll prepare the rod while you study up." The oni went to work, rapidly transcribing the soul's sins onto the rod.

"Thank you." Satori speed read the file, and she did not like what she was reading.

The soul appeared before her. _Great, where'd I end up, now? That dame said I'd get my money back after the ride. Cheating little runt._

Satori conjured a hypnotic pattern and tied it to the fellow's mind as she took the rod from the oni. It had the normal comfortable heft to it.

"Lekeolr, you have committed the following sins…" Satori took a deep breath and braced herself… If what the Yama had said was true, then the hypnotized soul should recollect the sins as they were listed. Satori… wasn't sure what to expect, but she had been told that she would generally only need to deal with the worst unrepented sins to make a fair judgment, so she started with...

"Binding the souls of a summoner's family, then betraying the terms of the contract." An series of images flashed through his mind: _Seven bodies, dying, heavily tortured, faint essences being drawn into gems held in outstretched hands. A cackling laughter..._ Then a new scene _The gems being annihilated in front of a young man, crying out in desperation. Then hands reaching out and crushing his throat before trapping the soul in yet another gem, and destroying that as well._

Satori stood, shock clear on her face. She simply hadn't expected that level of brutality. Even worse, she felt -proud-. No... she realized it was the feelings of Lekeolr that she was feeling. Not an ounce of regret for utterly destroying an entire family. It appeared to have taken place a long time ago, but clearly, sin purification hadn't been high on the soul's list. She read the next charge, though she was already dreading what it would bring.

"1,203 counts of unreasonable murder." The images flashed by, almost too quick to see. _Claws disemboweling a young woman, an old man being torn limb from limb, an infant having its head crushed, feeding a young boy to a bear... _ well over a thousand of them, humans, youkai, and demons, all perceived in mere seconds. Satori, upon seeing this all, felt rather nauseous, but managed to control herself. She read the next charge, and the next...

After a mere 10 minutes, she handed down her final judgment, and the soul was sent to a deep layer of hell. Her oni assistant handed her another set of papers. _Oh wow, she's not taking this too well. _The stress on her face was clear. She glared at the oni, who hurriedly began preparing the next rod.

The next subject was clearly a soldier, though one who had seen little true combat before dying. Even so, the list of sins was considerable. Laziness: _Sneaking away from training with other rabbits_, Deception of comrades: _Lying to protect a deserter comrade_. Cowardice: _fleeing a demonic enemy_, _only to be run through. Agony as the self is mutilated, eventually being decapitated, and seeing its own body through its severed head, demon laughing. _Satori was unable to move, unable even to retch, much as she wanted to. She had never felt such a terrifying death. Watching such ones through Lekeolr's mind had been bad enough... experiencing it first hand was crushing. It took her a few minutes to compose herself enough to hand down the negative judgment, but her stomach wrenched as she did so.

_She's crying? I don't think she's cut out for this. Eh, Seems she was just another person determined to get in the Yamas' good books without considering the cost after all._

Satori realized she couldn't simply keep going this way. She placed herself under a deep hypnosis, and mostly ran on autopilot for several more hours. Although she was somewhat conscious of the judgments she was handing down and why, she had partitioned away the emotional load behind them. She would have to deal with them later, as the memories resurfaced. Better over years surrounded by friendly mental support than within a day, surrounded by sin.

* * *

_**At the entrance to the Ministry of Right and Wrong**_

After a long day of judging, Satori had changed back into her normal clothes. She was mentally drained, and as the Yama approached her, Satori cursed the fact that she was so -LOUD-. It was all she could do to keep a dead, distant expression on her face.

**It seems she made it through. I'm glad to see I didn't underestimate her, though it seems it was rather taxing.** "I'm glad to see I didn't underestimate you." the Yama spoke. Satori stared daggers back at her.

**She seems... upset. She normally pays proper respect, but... perhaps it was the work. She's probably just tired. ** The Yama stood, unsure of what to say, as Satori's hateful glare stayed on her. **Thanks... are probably in order, then. **"Thank you."

Still Satori just glared at her, every fiber of her being taut, barely restraining herself. **Well... I suppose I should go then.**

"Oh no you don't. Not after that. Do you have any idea what I went through!" Satori cried out. **Of course I do, I do it every day. **Images floated through the Yama's mind of the judging process."Of cou-" the Yama started, but Satori cut her off.

"No. You don't. You just look in your mirror, get the facts, and judge. Me? It's not so easy. Today, I gained memories. Memories of committing thousands of atrocities, and suffering a thousand more."

**War is ugly. I could swear I had warn-** But Satori cut off even the Yama's thoughts.

"Have you fought in one?" **No, but-** "Then you don't know the horror! I've been shunned my entire life, had to watch as my people were 'quietly' cut down, able to hear their silent screams. That was -nothing- compared to today." Satori was trembling with poorly contained rage.

**She... really doesn't seem herself today.**

"My -self-?" Satori laughed, the laugh of a madwoman. "Maybe, maybe not. I can't remember who I was when I came in here. All I can remember right now is decades... no, centuries of torture and worse. And -YOU!- YOU!" Satori seemed to have run out of words, and without any more warning, lunged at the Yama and threw a punch. So shocked was the Yama that she didn't even react. Even if Satori had been stronger, the Yama was as unyielding as stone, and all Satori got out of the gesture were bruised knuckles.

**I knew this was a bad idea... but... it was necessary... and it will be again, if- **"No." **What?** "I said no. Never again." Satori was nursing her bruised knuckle, but had a defiant gaze that said she wasn't budging on this issue. **But if there are too many-**

"Then make it so war stops. I don't care." **Well, this invasion seems to be nearing its end-**

"Oh, they didn't seem to think this was the end. Nowhere near. They had plans. They... They might never stop..." Satori fell to the ground, clutching her head and crying. It seemed she had spent her rage, but the tension in the air hadn't dispersed. **They had more plans? How did she know?**

"How did I...? I just told you!" She snapped, tears still streaming down her eyes. "I read their minds, remember! 'The first of many glorious conquests.'" Satori staggered back to her feet. "The bastards were -proud- of it. Happy they'd get to keep going... so I was too." **Her mind reading carries that much emotion?** Satori silently nodded.

The Yama, quiet though she had been, felt her heart sink. **If that's true-** "It is..." Satori muttered. **Then perhaps they need a good talking to.**

Satori laughed once again. The Yama was absolutely not used to dealing with these sorts of mood shifts. She had difficulty enough reading the mood normally.

"Talking to them won't work. No, they'd happily gut you before they listened to anything you said, unless it was an offer of allegiance. Then they send you to the front lines. Why now, though? What started this rampage?" she clutched at the Yama's clothes.

**That, I don't know. **"That, I don't know." Much to her surprise, the Yama managed to get out a complete sentence. Satori sighed and released her grip.

"Perhaps it's just that they were ready and couldn't before? Maybe some path was recently opened to them. Maybe their leader got bored... They had many different guesses, but they didn't seem to know. Their victims, of course, knew even less." Satori had, finally, begun to calm down. The Yama was still treading carefully in this conversation, though. **Perhaps someone else might know. Though I judge its inhabitants, I begin to believe that I do not truly understand them. **"Perhaps someone else might know, but I am afraid I do not understand them well, despite being their judge."

Satori nodded quietly. **The magicians in Gensokyo may know more. Their power comes from Makai, after all. **"The magicians in Gensokyo may know more. Their power comes from Makai, after all." Images of four people; a western styled blond witch bounding with energy- Satori recognized her immediately as Marisa. Another blond mage in the company of many dolls, and a purple dressed and purple-haired wizard with a frail body- Alice and Patchouli... they had helped Marisa when she entered Chireiden searching for the source of the hot spring. And another person: Her hair seemed to be purple, though about halfway down it seemed to turn brown, as though the hair itself had changed color as it aged. Dressed in a black and white dress, she seemed weary, but smiled regardless.

"Could you... for a bit... please stop talking. Thinking is enough, and I really don't want to hear everything twice. Your mind is very loud, and I'm really sick of... everything."

**Normally I'd chastise you for reading my mind so freely, but I suppose I can answer this request for today, considering what you've done. **

"Thank you... now... Who was that last one? With the odd hair?" **Byakuren Hijiri? She recently ****set up a temple near the human village. I know little more. **Satori nodded.

"It's been a long while since I've spoken with a true magician, and never before on the subject of Makai." Satori said, already beginning the long journey back to her normal self. The Yama could sense that Satori was still tense, but she had regained some measure of composure.

The Yama nodded. **Please look into it. I must remain here. Although today seemed the peak of the war, it's still continuing, and others continue to die regardless.**

"I'm tempted to say no... but the alternative is judging again, isn't it?" The Yama nodded in response. "Then I suppose I must. I apologize for attacking you earlier. Now, I must excuse myself before I lose control again." Satori started off, but the Yama caught her shoulder, turned her around, and handed her a small ring. It was made of an unfamiliar metal, and bore the signature of Yamaxanadu Shikieiki.

**The treaty with the underground is still in effect, though it has been much more lightly enforced lately. Even so, a satori attempting to return to the surface would encounter great resistance. This gives my express permission for you to do so, and should help import the magnitude of your objective. Take care, Satori Komeiji. I hope for everyone's sake that you can stop their war.**

Satori walked away silently, donning the ring. When she reached the river, she waited for a ride, and by chance it was the same shingami that had ferried her here.

_Done here, thank goodness. I hope we'll never be seeing her again. _ Komachi let her on to the boat. _Wait. Is that Eiki's ring? What is she doing with it?_ She couldn't help but notice as she shoved off.

"Stopping a war, I hope." Satori said to herself, gazing at the Yama's ring. It may not be heavy, but it carried a great deal of weight indeed.

_You know, maybe I -should- have a heart to heart with the boss. Even she can make bad decisions from time to time._

Satori sighed as the boat reached the other side and she stepped out. She felt the weight of the world on her shoulders. Right now, she had a journey to prepare for.

* * *

_**Chireiden, Later that Evening**_

Satori went to the branch shrine of Kanako Yasaka located in a hidden corner of Chireiden. She had only used it once, and Kanako had been rather upset to learn that Satori had discovered it. Satori had learned of its existence from Orin, though Orin was trying to conceal it at Kanako's request. It had been installed by Orin to contact Kanako to keep her in touch with Utsuho, though she usually simply worked through Orin. Satori allowed Orin to continue doing so, and was thankful now that she had a means to contact the surface. She placed an offering of tea at the altar, and prayed.

After a few minutes, a grand wind picked up in the room, clearly supernatural given their depth underground, and leaves spun out of it and materialized in a flash into an imposing woman with an large frame and purple hair. Her shimenawa framed her form as she hovered and stared down.

**Oh. Great, she's probably going to chew me out again. What in the hells does she want?** Like the Yama, Kanako's mental voice was mighty. Satori also realized that unlike the Yama, Kanako's was deliberately so. Kanako just thought of herself in such a grand way that she simply thought loudly. She had a strong business sense, but was extremely selfish and afraid of ceasing to exist.

Kanako snapped up the tea offering and spirited it away, as Satori replied.

"Lucky for you, I don't intend to stop any of your projects... though I must advise you against reinstituting human sacrifice. Your faith comes mostly from the kappa, so if you do something along those lines, kappa should probably be the victims. In any case, I only contacted you because I need to go to the surface." Satori explained, while Kanako quietly fumed at having one of her potential schemes discovered, then suddenly disturbed by Satori's declaration.

**What? Oh faith, no. ** Satori had expected this reaction, really.

"Trust me, I'd rather not go up either. My duties to the Yama, however, insist. But... what ghosts? Ah, many are on the surface? Yes, it seems there's a war going on and she wishes me to stop it." Satori explained, Kanako was clearly irritated at being unable to get a word out. **-Stop- a war? And lose so much faith?**

Satori sighed. She had forgotten Kanako was a war god as well.

"I just need some information." **Fine. If the Yama needs it stopped, I'm not about to get in her way...**

"This may sound a little odd, but… what's the weather like lately?" Kanako looked upset at the question. **What? That's what you called me for! Weather's fine. Sunny, not too cloudy, a bit windy... That can't be all...?** Kanako was about to speak, but Satori once again interrupted her.

"Actually, I was referring to the season. I haven't been keeping careful track of time. " Satori clarified. Kanako groaned. **Of course... underground... What am I, the weather channel? ** Images of snow falling gently outside as Kanako supped with her shrine maiden and fellow god flashed through her mind. "It's been very cold, with spring more than a month away. And as a freebie, it's currently sunrise; can't have you tearing around at odd hours, after all. If that's all…" Satori nodded. "Then I'll be going." **I should really look into having this shrine destroyed. Utsuho seems stable enough lately... ** Kanako was still upset about having hardly been able to get a word out... what good were all her diplomatic graces against someone who couldn't even hear them?

Satori stood and walked away, thankful she had asked. Though she was a youkai, the bitter cold of winter was nearly as dangerous to her as it was to a normal human. She had some heavy cloaks, though she couldn't remember offhand the last time she had needed them. Of course, she had other preparations to make as well.

The blazing hells seemed to be running fine once again. She may need to check back again later, but for now she could trust her pets with its maintenance. They had maintained it well before she had arrived at its closure, after all. Even so, she decided to tell at least Orin and Okuu that she would be going elsewhere. She sent some nearby pets to bring them to her at their earliest convenience, and began to pack her things into a magical storage space, easily reached by a basic spell.

* * *

_**Hours**** Later...**__  
_

_It didn't sound urgent… but we were rather busy... I hope we didn't take too long…_Orin's thoughts confirmed Satori's suspicions. They had arrived nearly three hours after she had sent the summons. The night was wearing on. Well, the day, Satori supposed, given what Kanako had told her. She would have to reset her internal clock.

_Is she happy with how we've been doing? We've been doing well, right? I think we have…_Okuu seemed a little nervous.

"You're both doing very well." Satori started, feeling the warmth of her words through the hearts of her pets. "I'm very thankful for this, because I must be going for a time." Panic from Utsuho, and disappointment from Orin.

"No, it's really not because of anything you've done."

_Is it more work from the Yama?_" You haven't even been back for a day, and you need to leave again? That's just not fair!" Orin said.

_Orin's right! Master was so tired last time. It took hours of cuddling to get her in a good mood again. _"Yeah! You don't need to do anything that meany says."

"No, no… it isn't the same work again. I should… be alright. I just need to go to the surface for a while. I need to talk to some people there. Then they can hopefully take care of the rest of it." Satori said, and her pets were convinced, though she herself wasn't.

_The surface? Ohhh! She's finally going up there? It's so bright and warm! _Orin thought of happy moments, being pet by a bored-looking Reimu on a comfortably sunny day.

Meanwhile, Utsuho was having similar thoughts, pleasant memories of floating lazily through the wide open air. Satori wasn't sure how much they knew about winter, but decided not to bring the current season up in any case, for fear of feeling its chill before she even reached the surface.

"I will probably be gone for a few weeks, but I'll try and keep in touch." She turned to Utsuho. "I'll send word with the mountain goddess if something happens."

Utsuho was trying to remember just who that was. Satori conjured a small illusion to remind her, and pointed it out to Orin as well. Their mental images of Kanako grew clear, and Satori dismissed the illusion. "You should be able to trust any messages she passes on from me."

_I suppose it would be kinda greedy for us to keep master all to ourselves…_Utsuho reasoned.

Satori sighed. "If only the people on the surface agreed."

Utsuho looked surprised "But who wouldn't like you? You're so nice and neat and cool!" Utsuho's words came out at the same time as her thoughts. Satori couldn't help but smile at Utsuho's mind, beautiful in its simplicity.

Orin's mind was a bit more complex. _Well, it's their loss if they can't see what makes her so good. I'm sure they'll come around eventually._" They'll see; you really are a nice person."

"Ah, to ones such as you, yes. But most people seem to dislike having their minds read aloud to them in the middle of talking. I hope you're right, but I fear the worst." Satori was feeling much refreshed from her pets' comforting words and thoughts, but the enormity of her task still weighed on her. She looked at her ring as she considered what to do.

_Can't you just get the shrine maiden to fix it?_"Hey! I just had an idea!" Utsuho chimed in. "Get the -shrine maiden- to fix whatever the Yama asked you to."

Satori smiled gently. "I accepted this task and I'll see it through to the end, but I should seek her help, truly. Brash and rude she may be, but she certainly has quite some luck, doesn't she? No small skill either, I suppose. She even knows the black-white. Good thinking, Utsuho."

_Does she know where the shrine even is, though, Utsuho?_" Do you know how to get there, master?" Orin inquired. Satori was taken by surprise. In hindsight it was an obvious question, but she really had no idea of the layout of the surface.

"Well… Ah. Not… really, no. I don't suppose you could help me? I'm… not even sure how to get out of the underground, now that I think about it. I had... other things on my mind on my way down here."

Orin nodded and started to give directions. Satori was only half listening to the words, paying more attention to Orin's mental image as she exited Chireiden, passed through the underground city (Satori made a mental note to simply go around), crossed the bridge over the underground river, passed near a few Tsuchigumo nests, and exited the cave. From there, she took a straight path along the ground, clearly in her cat form, and moved swiftly, using the looming Youkai Mountain as a guide, shortly finding herself at the shrine before hopping into a surprised Reimu's arms.

Satori smiled as she memorized the path. "Thank you, Orin. Once I get there, it shouldn't be hard to find the others I need."

_Yup! Always a crowd there, it seems. _Orin's mind showed an oni, Marisa, and a few others making regular appearances at the shrine. "There are always bunches of folks about. I'm sure someone will be able to help." Satori was relieved to see that the "crowds" Orin spoke of were perhaps 10 people at most. She could handle much larger ones, but she preferred peace and quiet in general.

Orin continued, having just remembered… something. A face? it wasn't clear who… Orin probably didn't know "Oh, master! I've heard rumors about an evil spirit at the shrine. I couldn't find anything, but maybe you could ask Reimu about it. It might be a stray vengeful spirit. If you could just scare it back down here, I'd appreciate it..." Orin seemed to be feeling guilty, thinking that it might be her fault.

Satori nodded. "I'll ask about it. I suppose you couldn't really… you seemed to spend most of your time up there in cat form." Orin nodded. _Otherwise everyone kept shooing me away..._

Utsuho was next to speak. Again, her thoughts and words came out at the same time. "If you see Koishi, let her know we miss her!"

Koishi. The name struck Satori like a brick. She immediately and furiously searched her mind, trying to think of the last time she'd seen her sister. Countless years ago, it had been. And in the intervening years, had Satori thought of her at -all-? She focused, trying to remember.

_Did I say something wrong?_ Utsuho remained silent. Orin did likewise: _Where is she anyway? I haven't seen her at either home…_

Satori shook her head and a tear escaped. Not once. She couldn't remember giving her sister a single thought for years. And Satori had thought herself responsible, a loving sister. Doubt and shame assailed her mind. Utsuho remained oblivious, but Orin was beginning to foster similar thoughts of guilt.

Koishi Komeiji, her sister. She had been trying to rescue Koishi from her self-imprisonment, trying to restore her eye. But now she couldn't even spare her a thought?

"I… I'll do that. I hope she's alright." Satori's doubts grew. How could she hope to stop a war if she didn't even care for her crippled sister?

Orin hastily said "Don't worry! She must be alright! She's way stronger than you!" Then her thoughts caught up. _Wait. that came out wrong. Umm…_Orin's mind fumbled for an apology.

Satori smiled despite herself. "You meant it as a comfort, not an insult, so I'll take it that way, with thanks." Orin was relieved.

Utsuho silently thought _See, how could they dislike her? She's so forgiving. _Utsuho's pride in her master and love for her bloomed brightly in her heart.

Satori decided to wait a little while before heading out. "If you two don't mind, could you keep me company for a while? I fear it may be some time before I can once again enjoy the comfort of your minds." The two happily accepted, turned into their animal forms. Orin settled on her lap, while Utsuho perched cheerfully on her shoulder.

She sat basking in their physical and mental warmth for as long as she could, drawing as much of their support as she could. Every so often, she glanced at the ring given by the Yama. and reminded herself of her duty. But for now, duty could wait a few hours.

* * *

_**At the Entrance of Chireiden, the Next Morning  
**_

Satori stood at the door leading out to the former hell proper, her supplies packed into a small magical space, Many of her pets had taken a brief break to see her off. Their thoughts were mixed, but generally positive… _She'll show those surfacers what the blazing hell is all about! I wonder if she'll bring back some nice corpses or tea. She'll have tons of stories when she comes back, I bet. I can't wait! She gets to go to the surface! So lucky! I wish I could be as strong as master._

She turned and waved, then took a deep breath and opened the doors. For the first time in centuries she looked out into the underground. It was unchanged. She saw the city with its perpetual lights. She remembered the images from Orin's mind and moved out.

"Take care of everything until I'm back. You've all been doing splendidly." Satori waved and left, to the sounds of mental cheers, and even a few audible ones from the few humanoid attendees. Satori basked in their warmth for a while, shedding tears, before finally managing to pull herself away and fly out, tapping the door closed behind her.

She flew at a comfortable pace along the path from Orin's memory. The path to Chireiden was unsurprisingly poorly maintained, and she seemed to be the only traveler on it. She could sense the thoughts of minor animals here and there. It seemed many of them were sleeping, and they provided a quiet life to a world that appeared at first glance to be dull and lifeless.

After about an hour of flying at a good speed, she was nearing the city. She landed and decided to try and go around the city. Even if she weren't hated there (and she was), the majority of the population were oni, and as such, always perpetually drunk. She wasn't sure how they never ran out of sake, but she had long since learned that being around drunks tended to make her a bit… prone to... rash behavior herself. Pushing those uncomfortable thoughts from her mind, she skirted the edge of the enormous cavern the city filled.

Satori only ran into a few youkai, and didn't exchange any words with them. _Whasshe doin' herrre?_ One particularly drunk oni questioned, while another oni, apparently on some sort of dare, was clutching his head in a state of sobriety. _Just three more days… three more days. _The pain he was feeling from the worst hangover Satori had ever witnessed was uncomfortably sharp in her mind. She gave him a bit of a hypnotic boost to strengthen the effects of his mantra, soothing her pain as well as his, before continuing on. Apart from that, she made the journey around the city without incident. She took off once a comfortable distance from the city, and flew hesitantly towards the bridge.

The bridge to the underground, watched over by a being of great jealousy. Satori wanted desperately to blame her loneliness on Parsee Mizuhashi, the bridge guard. The most difficult, first years in the underground, envy and fear had run rampant. Satori had always suspected Parsee of fostering the ill feelings, but never bothered to find out the truth, instead secluding herself within Chireiden. Even before Satori could see the bridge, she could begin to feel her sight become green-tinted, and grew a little envious herself. She steeled her resolve, then flew to the bridge. Upon nearing it further, she could hear voices… there seemed to be a party going on at the bridge.

"Drink up, there's plenty for everyone!" A leader among the oni sat drinking from a sake dish. Her thoughts were like most oni's: perfectly clear, but surrounded by a foggy haze. She was in her comfortably tipsy zone. She wore a white shirt and multicolored translucent skirt, and her unique red, star-patterned horn horn pointed straight into the air as she took another gulp from her dish. Yuugi Hoshiguma was the only oni Satori interacted with even somewhat regularly (and even then it was through letters delivered via Satori's pets, and on matters of business and supply), bar a few odd exceptions now and again.

As she neared further, Satori felt the expected waves of jealousy wash over her, and though her mind was prepared enough to deal with them, it didn't stop her from being just a little envious of these friends, sitting and drinking together in such a carefree manner, while she not only had work to attend to, but little in the way of friendship.

There were also a few others, as she got closer. A tsuchigumo and a tsurube otoshi were also present. The former seemed to be just getting started, her mind still clear, while the latter seemed to be struggling with consciousness. Once Satori approached even more, she saw an impressive number of bottles next to the little green-haired bucket-dwelling youkai.

Yuugi seemed to notice her, much to her dismay. _Hey, izzat Satori?_"Satori! Come down here! Plenty for everyone!"

* * *

**_The Bridge to the Former Hell_**

As much as Satori wished to simply fly by, refusing to acknowledge Yuugi would lead to complications later. She touched down. The Tsurube-Otoshi's drunken state was giving Satori some difficulty, and she took a moment to steady herself after landing.

"Hah! Haven't even started yet and you're already getting drunk! Biggest lightweight I've ever seen, getting drunk off fumes!" _I wonder how she gets when she's -really- drunk._

The tsuchigumo didn't seem to recognize her, and simply waved, her attention focused on her current drink, an amusing ditty going through her head. Parsee's venomous thoughts, on the other hand, were impossible to ignore. _What's that ungrateful whiner doing here? Living in the grandest __house of all, and does nothing but shut herself away._Satori sighed, trying her best to ignore Parsee, who to most eyes seemed to be simply drinking lightly, as focused in her drink as the tsuchigumo.

"Sorry, Yuugi, I've got to get moving. I've business up ahead."

"You sayin' ya didn't come to join the party? But I even invited ya!" _ 'Course, couldn't tell anyone else or they probably wouldn't have shown, but it's just the proper thing to do. Never expected her to actually come, though. Kinda bummed she did... Now I need to get the others so drunk they won't remember tonight, or no one will ever come to another party again. _Satori recalled the invitation… it had been sent a couple weeks ago. She had discarded it like the others. It was hardly the first, and though Yuugi always pleaded with her to attend, Yuugi's heart told Satori that the invitations were sent out of a sense of duty rather than a legitimate request for company.

"We've got plenty of Sake. Really good stuff, too. You're welcome to join us." Parsee offered. _Chireiden drives the whole underground economy, but do we ever see so much as a glimpse of -her-? No! Just sits high and mighty in her… tower… mansion thing. _Parsee's thoughts kept flowing freely, Satori having some difficulty holding them at bay.

"Look, I need to get to the surface. A war could erupt, and I need to try and stop it." Satori pleaded pushing away the sake Yuugi and Parsee offered.

_A war! Well! That could be interesting. I wonder if they'd let us up to go fight in it. Waaaait a minute._"Ain't there still that treaty? We ain't s'posed to go up there. You 'specially... why'd you change your mind, anyway?"

_She gets to go to the surface? She doesn't even realize how lucky she is. I'm stuck at this stupid bridge, and she gets to traipse around under the sky without a care in the world._Satori kept a calm facade, but between that tsurube-otoshi's drunkenness and Parsee's envy, it was taxing and distracting to keep from giving Parsee a good kick to the ribs. Instead, Satori held out her ring.

"I have express permission from the Yama to be on the surface. I'm going there on official business. This war has caused problems, and the invaders need to be stopped."

Yuugi sighed, shrugged, and resumed drinking. _Had to offer. Just glad she didn't accept... I'd never live it down._

"Well, I wish you the best of luck, then." Parsee gave her a salute and took her drink back in hand. _She's working for the Yama? Figures she gets to work for someone important. Who do I work for again? Oh that's right, -no one-. Closest thing is this crowd. She probably just had to do some easy paperwork, too._

Satori suddenly grabbed spellcards, the drunkenness now fueling a sudden envy-sparked rage. How -dare- Parsee envy that work. That scarring, tortuous work!

"We're going to duel. I will use two spellcards, and you will wish you hadn't done that." Parsee, eager to show Satori the depths of her envy, took out two spellcards. Satori pulled out only the promised two; half her standard array. Her normal hypnosis one, and a simple blank one.

_A duel over being wished luck? That may be the most ridiculous thing I've heard yet..._ Yuugi thought. The tsuchigumo merely noted the contest, and nudged the bucket to point out the scene before returning to drinking calmly. _I wonder who'll win._

* * *

Parsee immediately launched into a spellcard:"Tongue-Cut Sparrow: Hate for the Humble and Rich". Satori's mind was focused entirely on the fight now, however, and though Parsee's form seemed to split in two, Satori immediately recognized one as an illusion, and proceeded to blast the real Parsee, despite multiple attempts on Parsee's end to confuse her.

Satori continued to dodge, and Parsee's patience quickly ended, launching into another spellcard: "Covetous sign: Enviable Freedom" almost immediately. Walls seemed to close in around Satori, but she knew, from Parsee's mind, that the wall would have cracks appear as it neared Satori, when she would be able to escape. She accomplished this, the burning rage kept just under the surface. Parsee would pay dearly for being so flippant about Satori's day as a judge. Satori would settle for nothing less than complete humiliation, now.

Then Satori unleashed her first spellcard. "Recollection: Terrifying hypnotism". It was the prize of decades of research into minds and hypnosis. It was tuned to her third eye, hypnotizing her as much as her opponent. Its lights spun, and her mind was driven to perform thorough and blindingly fast calculations and correlations, while simultaneously drawing forth the most terrifying memories from her opponent and copying them to a card in a way that would be sure to evoke that exact feeling. After the initial tests on Marisa and Reimu a while back, she had finished refining it. Of course, the magnificent elegance of the spellcard was lost on a single minded youkai like Parsee, but it was a good test, nonetheless.

Parsee cleared the spellcard, but already she was shaken. Hardly a surprise: she had just had her most painful memory called up against her will. Of course, she didn't seem to realize what would happen next, as Satori made her declaration.

"Now, sleep with the horrors slumbering within yourself!" Satori received enjoyment at sweeping her opponent off her mental feet, as did other satori. Of course, without letting them know just what you took, there wasn't nearly as much fun to be had.

"Recollection: Chains of Wooden Shade!" Satori and Parsee were suddenly engulfed in darkness, while magical glowing chains looped around them. Parsee panicked immediately, and she flew in a frenzy around the chains, not noticing that a ceiling and floor of brown, twisting bullets was lowering, restricting her movement more and more. When she finally did notice, Parsee froze and stared. The chains, though not particularly difficult to dodge even in close quarters, inevitably found their mark, and entwined themselves around Parsee, tearing her clothes almost as thoroughly as her mind.

Of course, there was a cost to this sort of attack. Satori was forced to endure it, just as her opponent was, for she had to understand the terror behind the attack to make it effective. She had to lower her emotional distance, and expose herself to every bit of emotion Parsee experienced. The old horror of waiting in darkness, eventually finding her movement restricted, trying desperately to escape the bridge which bound her, even as it seemed to shrink around her and pull her closer. The regret of the path that led her there, and the resignation as the walls finished confining her, chains of fate binding her forever to her bridge. Trapped… forever, never to see the sun or feel wind ever again. Satori felt the chains encircling Parsee, felt her incomparable envy of those able to move as they pleased, those with free will to do as they desired, those who had escaped the bonds of their flaws.

With that, Parsee fell to the ground, unconscious. Satori's envy of Parsee's life was gone. Her rage had turned to pity in the wake of the attack. She had caused such suffering… and for such a petty reason. Perhaps… perhaps the spellcard worked a little too well. Satori's mind began to clear, and she realized the duel had seemed to sober the mood around her.

"I… need to go." Satori said, desperately holding back her sympathetic tears. She hadn't had any idea how Parsee had felt about her own situation. Guilt wracked Satori's mind. Already, she was beginning to wonder if she wouldn't bring more pain than relief on her quest to stop the war. She had just been true to her nature, but at what cost?

_Well, that was pretty._The tsuchigumo quietly admired. The tsurube-otoshi had seemed to enjoy the spectacle, the confining nature of the attack. But Yuugi… it was her thoughts that followed Satori the longest as she forced herself to walk on, past the bridge.

_Why… would she do that? Was Parsee's life not bad enough already? Satori had to remind her of -that-! What a __monster…_

And Satori, for the first time in a very long while, couldn't bring herself to disagree with that assessment.


	2. Chapter 2

_**The Dark Blowhole**_

Satori knew she was nearing the surface when the she felt the chill winds of winter. She took out one of her heavy, thick cloaks, pink with faint purple floral patterns, and wrapped it round. It was heavy, and a little uncomfortable, but it certainly kept her warm. It was made of carefully treated shed skins of the salamanders of Chireiden, and had a warmth of its own, as well as being well insulated.

Her next clue was seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. It was uncomfortably bright, but having worked in the blazing hells with Utsuho, the light of a sun wasn't completely foreign to her. She neared the entrance to the cave, took a deep breath, and stepped onto the surface world once again.

Satori had never thought that she'd be returning to the surface. The air had a very different taste to it from that of the underground, and she had to pull the cloak tightly around to fend off the extreme cold, a far cry from the stable comfortable temperature in Chireiden. The wind blew snow into Satori's face, though it seemed little was actually falling.

Satori had heard snow fell in the underground city, but had never witnessed it. It surely had never snowed in Chireiden, so it had been several hundred years since she had last touched snow. She had forgotten just how cold it was. Indeed, she gave a sharp yelp of surprise. How could anyone live in this?

She sighed, reminding herself that she herself had done so in the past, although she had a hunch that she had stayed inside and done her best to avoid the snow. Perhaps she'd take a look at her memories to see how she had coped when she had a chance. She looked up and out again, and the light stung her eyes so much she had to lower them quickly. She sighed and pulled the hood of her cloak up as she trudged along. Only a fool would try flying when she couldn't see, and Satori didn't think she belonged on that list.

Orin's directions would be useless until she could see, so Satori sat and ate a comfortable, meager lunch while she waited for her eyes to adjust. While youkai didn't need to eat nearly as much as humans, most still did eat, if only for the mental satisfaction of doing so. They could use the physical nourishment as well, but they didn't need it as a human did. A short while after she finished, she could finally take her gaze all the way to the horizon, though it was still uncomfortably bright. She aligned herself, using the mountain in the distance as a guide, and took off, flying at a good pace.

* * *

_**The Hakurei Shrine**_

Satori reached the Shrine in the middle of the afternoon. Oddly, it seemed devoid of activity as she climbed the stairs. The path to the shrine was covered in drifted snow, and Satori couldn't even detect any minds. Naturally animals would generally be hibernating, but there should be more activity. As she got close to the shrine, though, she detected three minds, all quite weak. She quickly recognized them as fairies, though somewhat unusual ones.

The first seemed to be focusing mostly on moving something heavy and… something else. The second seemed to be moving something as well, but was focusing even more on some other thing. The third was simply watching Satori. Satori couldn't see any of them, but decided to listen quietly. Fairies were easy to startle away, and these might know where Reimu was.

The third mind reacted first. _Hey, that lady is here._

_You mean that one who was approaching? Can she see us, Star?_The first mind thought. The third mind, presumably 'Star', responded.

_Nope. She just seems to be looking for someone. Probably Reimu. She keeps looking over here, though… Sunny, you -are- hiding us, right?_

The second voice, Sunny, apparently, replied. _Of course I am. I'm even hiding us from each other like you asked, though I'm still not sure why._

_I already told you. If we can see each other we'll all assume someone else is carrying the load, and nothing will end up getting moved. _Star replied again. Satori couldn't help but grin. That was fairy logic, to be sure.

_That sounds wrong somehow… Anyway, has that lady gone yet? _Sunny queried.

"No, I'm right here. Do you three mind if I ask you something?" A bit of panic went through the three fairies.

_Luna! You aren't covering our sound, are you!_ Star accused. The first mind, Luna, called back breathlessly. _Of course… I am… She can't… hear us…_

Sunny became defensive _I already said it's not me! So it must be you! She must be able to hear us!_

"Ah, you're speaking. That explains how you're communicating. Rest assured, however, that I cannot hear your spoken words." Satori decided to have a bit of fun with the fairies, pulling her cloak tight to keep warm.

_See! I told you she couldn't hear us! She even said so! _Luna cried defensively. Satori smiled at the obvious flaw in her logic, though it seemed to satisfy the other two fairies.

_Maybe she's just getting talking to herself, then. Anyway, keep carrying! Reimu hid it real well, so it's got to have something valuable in it. _Star said.

_Star, are you -sure- you're helping lift? It seems like maybe this shouldn't be so heavy. _Sunny thought.

_Of course I am, Sunny. It's just heavy because it's so valuable. Luna's doing fine, isn't she? Stop whining and help carry already. _Star said. She was clearly the craftiest, though given the competition that wasn't saying much.

_Aren't' heavy things -less- valuable, though? I mean, what if it's just a bunch of rocks. Because it sure feels like it. _Luna thought out.

_Look, why would Reimu hide a bunch of rocks? That would be stupid! _Star proclaimed. Satori began to bundle together some snow, now that their attention was diverted back to whatever ridiculous theft they were trying to commit.

_Oh, right. That makes sense. _Sunny thought.

_Why does it have to weigh -so much- though? _Luna moaned. Satori took a few moments and carefully smoothed and tested the weight of the snowball.

_Valuable! And once we sell it, we'll have all the money we'll ever need. _Star was seeing wealth in their future.

_If it's so valuable, why didn't Reimu just sell it? Its not like she's well off. _Luna's comment brought down Star's mood.

_She… ummm… probably just couldn't find a buyer yet. We just need to find the right person to sell to, that's all. _Star was trying her hardest to come up with a reason that the destitute shrine maiden would have to keep something valuable.

Satori decided now was as good as ever to interrupt. She threw a snowball at Sunny. The three fairies suddenly became visible. Star in a blue dress with long black hair, Sunny with short blond hair and an orange dress, and Luna with blond hair, curled, wearing a white dress. Sunny was busy wiping the cold snow from her face. _Ack! What happened! Are we under attack!_ It seemed she had released her grip on the bag she and Luna had been carrying (Star was several feet away, clearly having nothing to do with the bag), which caused the latter fairy to lose her precarious balance, and after a few moments, she too lost her grip on the bag and it fell to the ground.

Befitting their simple natures, fairies were generally true to their hearts. What they thought, they spoke. These three were no exception. Satori was reminded of Utsuho and most of her pets, in a way.

Star was watching the whole scene fall apart, and scolding them "Come on! What's wrong with you two?" Before noticing the snowball on Sunny's face. "Sunny… I think… we're visible now."

"I knew you weren't helping carry it!" Sunny yelled at Star, finishing clearing the snow from her face when she saw Satori. "What's the big idea, anyway!" She yelled at Satori.

"Sunny… You aren't hiding us anymore." Star insistently tugged on Sunny's sleeve.

"What, Of course I… Oh, I guess I wasn't. Wait, that means she can see us!" Satori was briefly tempted to lie and say she couldn't, but she had business to attend to.

"I'm looking for some people, and I need a guide. I was going to ask Reimu, but I suppose you three might suffice."

"And why should we help you, miss 'throws snowballs at random strangers'?" Sunny said as Luna stood up and brushed herself off.

"My -name- is Satori, and well, I know that you live near this shrine. I have this hunch that the shrine maiden wouldn't approve of local fairies trying to steal her things. She might just have to chase you out of your home."

"Hah!" Star laughed, and much to Satori's surprise, managed to not -say- what she had expected. Unfortunately for Star, she still thought it. _Hah! If Reimu knew we lived in the great tree, she wouldn't keep leaving offerings there, now would she? _Star even had a clear mental image of exactly the tree she meant. She was also very proud that she had managed -not- to blurt out the information.

"You're probably right. Of course, I could just tell her that you live in the great tree she keeps leaving donations at when I told her you were stealing things from her."

The three fairies looked at each other nervously, then suddenly all started talking at once, their panicked thoughts echoing their words.

"Please don't tell Reimu!"

"She'll probably cut down the tree and our home!"

"We were just getting used to it, too!"

"She might even burn it down…"

Satori had only met Reimu once, but she hadn't exactly seemed like one to think things through much. It really wouldn't surprise Satori if Reimu -did- set fire to a tree right next to her shrine and expect everything to work out. It also wouldn't surprise her if everything -did- work out. Reimu had a strange sort of luck, she'd discovered. She wondered how the shrine maiden would fare when that luck ran out. Luck only gets you so far, after all. Satori spoke out.

"Now, now. If you help me, I won't have any reason to tell her, now will I?"

"You're a big meany head. Meany." Sunny spoke, crossing her arms indignantly, but the other fairies nodded in agreement. Satori shrugged. She hadn't expected to be liked, after all. Besides, they'd probably forget her within a day or so.

"So you're going to help me, then?" The fairies grudgingly nodded.

"Good! Now then, do you know Of any of these people?" Satori conjured a brief illusion to show an image first of Marisa.

"Yup! She lived right by our old house… She wanted to poison it, though…" Sunny muttered.

Next was Alice. "Creepy doll lady! She turned us into dolls and made us meet them!" Luna spoke up this time. Satori was a bit confused just what that meant… Ah. It seemed Alice had made dolls of them… it had been an unnerving experience, it seemed.

Then Patchouli. They pondered for a while, before Star spoke up. "Hey, isn't that the lady from the library? When we got to wear those neat costumes?"

Sunny nodded. "Yeah! Never left her books, though. I still remember her instructions, too!" Sunny declared, very proud of herself. "A cube of salt in her coffee every morning!" Sunny recited from memory. Satori suspected the poor magician had had many a cup of coffee ruined.

Finally, she conjured an image of Byakuren.

"She's that lady at the temple. The one with the bell…" All of the fairies winced in a painful shared memory of being within the bell while it was struck. Annoying as they were, Satori felt a bit of pity at the memory.

"Seems you know where I can find everyone, then. I suppose I'm very lucky to have found fairies so intelligent."

"And because we're helping you, you won't tell Reimu on us?" Luna asked. Satori nodded.

"I think I'd like to meet Marisa first, then."

"Okay. And if she's not there, creepy doll lady lives near there, so we'll go there next." Despite their earlier dislike, the fairies seemed to be more excited to go visit places they hadn't been in a while. They were already getting into an adventurous mindset

The three fairies flew off, and Satori followed. The bag lay in front of the shrine, forgotten by all.

* * *

_**Within Eientei**_

"Why did the inaba all have to go out." Kaguya moaned.

"I understand it's difficult for you, but they will be back shortly. They have chores to do, and families to visit." Eirin explained.

"Did you have to give them all vacation at the same time, though?"

"I did, yes. Do not forget that we are guests in their home, not the other way around. It was a reasonable enough request; they wanted to spend time with their families is all. I'm sorry that you find yourself with nothing to do, but perhaps you could… improve your cooking?"

"My cooking's perfect already, though." Eirin raised a dubious eyebrow, but Kaguya didn't seem to notice, and continued: "Couldn't we have at least kept the moon rabbit around?"

"She is busy running some errands. We're running low on supplies."

"For what, your little pet project?" Kaguya asked, and Eirin replied with a dismissive shrug.

"Among other things, yes. She's producing some very interesting results."

Kaguya had stopped paying attention, seeming to space out.

"Princess? Don't just nod off like that in response to a question you asked." Eirin chided, but Kaguya's pupil's dilated and she hardly seemed to be breathing. Realizing something was afoot, Eirin quickly considered potential causes, even while approaching her.

She swiftly realized it was poison, though it was most likely airborne; Kaguya hadn't even eaten yet today, and the rapid onset with no apparent cause left few other possibilities. She stopped approaching the princess and instead moved int he opposite direction, towards her lab, only to begin to feel her muscles seize up. Whatever the source, it seemed she had been infected as well. Eirin tried to fly, but her magical power was blocked as well as her muscles. Her considerable strength swiftly abandoned her, leaving her crumpled on the ground. A slight burning sensation covered her.

"I must say, these years have been invaluable. When we first met, I doubt I could come up with a poison to incapacitate someone so swiftly." Eirin groaned. How had -she- gotten free? Medicine Melancholy stood over Eirin and gloated.

"Oh, don't worry. It won't kill you. No, you've shown me that poisons are capable of so much more. And that combining them properly can achieve very specific results. The irukandji venom you used on me wasn't quite sufficent for my needs here, so I've developed a similar, new sort of poison to distract you a bit... and those pills…" Medicine laughed. "I'd never even thought poisoning minds or dreams was possible, to say nothing of stopping magic, but you showed me the light." Her visage and voice suddenly became very menacing and resentful. "And now you'll get to see it. Oh, and don't count on your worthless little body being able to fix this, either. The poison is even now being made by it. No, you'll be stuck like this for… Well, forever, I suppose." Medicine laughed and her face returned to a more... cheerful one, though it was no more pleasant.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure you both get plenty of food and water, until I can find a way to make the princess's power into some sort of poison. Perhaps you could have made an antidote. Of course, antidotes can't be made before the poison they counteract." Medicine kept monologuing "Rest assured, if any humans deserve this, you do most of all, Eirin Yagokoro. You, who poisons everything she touches."

Meanwhile, Eirin was working her mind furiously. How had Medicine gotten out? There were countless wards over dungeon. Would she go after the inaba next? Not likely… only Udonge had even known of Medicine's presence. Tewi had found out, of course, but she'd had a bad experience in the past, and stayed well away from the little monster. And Udonge had always objected fervently to Medicine's imprisonment. Even so, Medicine, already young, hateful, and unstable when she had been discovered, had probably not had her temperament improved from her confinement, let alone being the subject of several unsavory experiments.

Eirin had tried teaching Medicine about various poisons and basic medicine, in order to produce antidotes and other cures. Indeed, poisons themselves could prove extremely useful as medicinals and cosmetics. Although Eirin herself had come up with several new drugs and cures, It seemed Medicine wasn't interested in any of the benign applications of her talents.

"I suspect you're wondering what sorts of poisons are in that little cocktail. No… you've probably already figured out most of them. Yes, if you could move, you'd doubtless be able to heal yourself in short order. Oh, and don't worry about your princess. She's in the same state as you. Well, without any hope or knowledge of understanding what's going on, of course." Medicine started dragging Eirin's body next to the princesses, and turned their heads so they faced each other.

"There you go. Now you can rest assured that you're both alive. Well, that irukandji-like poison should start going into full swing any moment now, but it won't be terribly fun to watch without any conscious reactions possible. Oh well. Time to get down to business."

Eirin heard Medicine Melancholy fly away, and sure enough, within a few minutes, she was struck by excruciating pain. Eirin was -not- looking forward to the next few weeks. If she could mutter words of comfort to the princess, now doomed twice over from Eirin's mistakes, she would, but Kaguya seemed barely responsive. She was breathing, but little more. Soon, Eirin's mind was enveloped not only in pain, but also the most horrible hallucinations her mind had to offer. She watched Kaguya die in front of her countless times, watched all of her failures play out. Eirin's many years had seen even more traumas, and her imagination, now running wild, outdid them all.

* * *

_**Outside of **__**Eientei**_

Reisen Udongein Inaba was whistling a happy tune. She was becoming well known enough at the village, and capable enough at bargaining that not only had she finished early, getting everything she needed, but she had even done so under budget. She and Tewi were returning to Eientei. Tewi had pestered her as usual, but even her antics couldn't get through Reisen's good mood. Tewi herself was recounting one of her favorite recent pranks as they walked up to Eientei's gates.

Reisen stopped. It was unusually quiet within. True, the rabbits were all out, but normally there were the sounds of minor pests, or at least Kaguya's laughs or whines making some noise. The place sounded empty. Reisen used a trick she had developed while working under Eirin. Reisen was able to adjust waves as they were perceived by her eyes, allowing her to specify the range of light she was viewing. Although she could use this to view normally invisible ranges of light, she used this now to focus more on narrow ranges of light… any minor differences would be as clear to her as the difference between red and green. And sure enough, after about a minute of focusing on it, sweeping through frequencies, she found an inconsistency. Something was… leaking out… from the cracks in the wall. It didn't seem to be spreading far, but it seemed the entirety of Eientei had -something- wrong with its air.

Returning her sight to normal and relaxing her gaze, she saw that Tewi hadn't stopped to wait for Reisen, and was now calling back the climax of her tale, even as she was nearly at Eientei.

"I bet I could have even gotten the shrine maiden herself to donate to her own shrine! That would have been a riot!" Tewi laughed and opened the door.

"Tewi! Close the door and get away from there!" Reisen shouted.

Tewi looked back at Reisen, confused, but did so. Reisen refocused her gaze and saw that just a bit of the -something- had ended up escaping the door. Hardly any at all, so Tewi should be fine, but better not to risk it.

"Something's happened here… The air's gone all… weird."

"Whadd'ya mean?" Tewi asked as she kept walking back. Reisen shrugged.

"I'm… not sure. But can't you hear that? It's far too quiet within Eientei. Either the princess, Eirin, or one of her projects is usually making some passive noise…"

Tewi Stopped and listened for a bit as she reached Reisen. "Yeah… you're….. right…." Tewi suddenly fell to one knee. "Huh?"

"What's wrong?"

"I can't… move my leg." Tewi seemed to be having trouble speaking. And kneeling, apparently, as she fell over.

Tewi's eyes suddenly shot open in a terror-striken face she had never before shown Reisen. Tewi tried to crawl away from something, but her arms soon stopped working.

"No.. no… get them away! I won't let you take my fur again, you thieving sharks!" Tewi started… well, trying to scream, though it came out as just a whisper already. Reisen thought hard about what airborne hazards caused paralysis and hallucinations, but couldn't think of any immediately. She tried keeping Tewi awake, but nothing she did seemed to change Tewi's state at all.

Tewi's attempts at speech stopped after a few more moments of silent mouthing. Her breathing steadied, and as Reisen checked her pulse, Tewi's heart rate, though somewhat accelerated, seemed stable enough.

Reisen wrote a note and attached it to the outer fence…

"Some sort of miasma is within Eientei. Enter at your own peril. -Reisen." She nodded, confident enough that anyone who ignored that was either prepared to deal with it (Master, for instance), or was at least forewarned. Reisen frowned as she considered the most likely source of the affliction. If this was Medicine Melancholy's doing, Reisen wasn't sure how useful she'd be.

She picked up Tewi (Who proved to be surprisingly heavy), and started away from Eientei… but where to go? She would need supplies to examine and cure Tewi. Then she recalled the forest of magic, known for its vast medicinal and magical resources. She decided to set off to visit the witch who lived in the woods. She had seemed willing enough to help before… Reisen just hoped she wouldn't need bait again.

* * *

_**At Alice's House, in the Forest of Magic**_

"Alice, are you there?" Reisen called out for the owner of the house. She noticed the various dolls going about their business, brushing and shoveling snow, which wouldn't be so bad, except that they watched her as they worked, never taking their many eyes off her. She kicked the door gently, as her hands were full with Tewi. The door swung open.

"Oh, it's you again. And it seems you've brought a guest." Alice stood at the door... waiting... until Reisen spoke, breaking the awkward silence.

"Yes… Tewi's fallen ill and I remembered that you had a good selection of medicines, and Eieintei's filled with poison, and I don't know where master is, and I hardly have any supplies and Medicine Melancholy is probably free and-" Reisen rambled until Alice cut her off.

"That name… that's the poison doll, right?" Alice had intended to meet with Medicine at some point to see if she could gain any insights into doll automation, but hadn't been particularly keen on visiting Nameless Hill to find her. Alice had considered the poison too dangerous, especially given the newly born and uncontrolled youkai behind it. She'd heard second-hand that Medicine's immediate goal was to "free" dolls from the control of people. While it was a ridiculous goal, Alice realized that she was probably public enemy number one in Medicine's mind. She had ultimately decided to wait until the doll had mellowed before attempting that meeting.

"Yeah. I mean, it's probably her. I'm not sure, but it seems likely because of the poison-" Reisen was again interrupted.

"Come on in, I suppose." If Medicine really -was- behind this, Alice realized that she was in danger, and surrounding herself with allies would be a prudent thing indeed.

* * *

_**That Evening...**_

Satori looked at Alice's comfortable looking house. The quartet had checked Marisa's house, but, as the fairies had expected, she wasn't home. By the time they had reached Alice's, the sun was already nearly set. They landed, and Satori could hear something… painful coming from within, but only faintly.

She approached the door and knocked.

"Alice, are you there? I need to ask you some things." Satori called out.

The three fairies were clutching Satori's legs, trying to hide from something. Satori didn't sense any minds, but she looked around. Then she noticed the dolls. Dozens of them, all watching her with an unblinking gaze. She suddenly realized that those spades, shovels, and even brooms could be very dangerous if they were to be used as weapons, and grew profoundly nervous. The headache-inducing -something- wasn't making her feel particularly comfortable, either.

Marisa had seemed to think of Alice as snarky, fairly cheery, though odd. Given her experience speaking with Alice at the time, Satori was in agreement. Visiting her home, however, was forcing her to reevaluate Alice. What happened next didn't help her impression either.

The door opened, and Satori fell to the ground, screaming in agony and clutching at her eye, trying to tear its gaze away from the rabbit in the couch directly in front of her. For when the door had opened, she was treated to visions, memories, and experiences not unlike what she had seen as a judge. Then, she had been prepared. Now? It was all she could do to mutter. "Rabbit… goway." before succumbing to the onslaught of pain, suffering, and despair that swallowed her.

* * *

Satori was back in Chireiden, surrounded by her loving pets. She had decided to go back to visit them and let them know that things were going well. They had been so overjoyed that they threw a party. They even restrained themselves from drinking alcohol, just for her. She was so content, that perhaps she could spend a while here before going back to work. The Yama had given her a few days off for a reason, after all. She ate delicious food, and drank fine beverages, all while surrounded by her best and most trusted friends and their comforting minds. Even her sister was there, eye once again wide open, and they shared happily mundane thoughts, as they had in the old days, without needing to rely on mere words to communicate their love for each other.

* * *

_**Alice's House in the Waking World**_

"What… happened?" Alice and Reisen were both badly shaken. They reflected on the events of the past few minutes...

Alice had noticed another person through her doll watch, and examined more closely. She recognized the girl with the third eye as Satori Komeiji. She also recognized the three fairies with her, but paid the little nuisances little mind. Alice didn't particularly wish to welcome her, but Reisen seemed to expect she would do so. She had opened the door after warning Reisen that Satori would be able to read their minds, and at that moment, a wail of terror and pain erupted from Satori, scaring the three fairies away. Satori had muttered something about making a rabbit go away, so Alice gestured Reisen to take Tewi into another room. Satori had fainted, a look of anguish on her face.

Alice had given her one of her butterfly dream pills, and Satori had seemed to relax, her sleep eventually becoming more easy. Even so, it became restless once more when she was moved into the room with Tewi, so they decided to put Satori in Alice's bed instead. Satori had no qualms about Reisen, thankfully, and Reisen was currently tending her.

"My best guess is that Satori read something that was… really awful. Now, I may not be the best person in the world, but I do think I'm better than Marisa, and she didn't have any trouble when they met." Alice considered aloud.

"I… I don't think I was thinking anything bad. I was mostly wondering just what you meant by "'she can read minds.' I guess I know now, huh?" Reisen had finished performing some basic checks, and seemed convinced that Satori was healthy, and slumbering peacefully. She certainly seemed more restful than Tewi in the next room.

"We'll just have to ask her when she wakes up, I suppose. I wonder what brings her to the surface... or to my house specifically. Well, we may as well get some rest for now. Whatever brought her to the surface was probably not a trivial matter."

* * *

_**The Next Morning**_

Satori awoke with a throbbing headache, but was in a good mood despite that. She had just had a refreshing dream, and was ready to tackle whatever the day brought at her! She sat up and looked around, a little confused as to where she was. She had been looking for Marisa, but hadn't been home… then she'd been creeped out by the dolls at Alice's place, the door had opened, and…

Oh.

Thankfully, the memories seemed far in the past and were blurred by the intervening dream, but they were still a bit tender. She wondered just what had happened. She could feel a pair of minds outside of her room, the connecting door open, and the source of her throbbing headache in another nearby room. She used some of her mental techniques to block a bit of that pain, and focused on listening to the other two.

_I wish she'd just wake up already. What in the world could bring her up here? The treaty's still in effect... I don't want it known I'm harboring a satori of all things without a good reason. _Alice continued thinking about Satori's presence. Alice's mind was fairly typical. Rather complicated... though it seemed she still thought in more human terms than youkai terms.

_What happened yesterday? I go out shopping for some supplies, everything goes well. I get what I need, and at bargain prices, too. Then I go home and it's empty and poisoned. Tewi gets just a faint whiff of the stuff, and she's out cold. Alice helps me out, but then that Satori girl comes in, goes crazy, and we've no idea why. I -really- hope today turns out better. _Reisen's mind was more straightforward, even moreso than Orin's, though she seemed very unsure of herself.

Satori called out "I'm awake now, you two."

_Oh thank the gods_. Alice's mind was relieved. _Maybe now we can get some answers._

The door was opened, and Satori saw not only Alice, but a rabbit youkai as well. The rabbit seems somewhat familiar… the uniform in particular, but she couldn't quite place where she had seen it.

Satori propped herself up in her bed.

"I suppose it's time you heard my side of the story, then." Alice and Reisen waited apprehensively.

She addressed the rabbit first. "First of all, very bad news. Your friend is not 'out cold' as you thought. I don't get anything from the minds of unconscious people. Asleep, sometimes, but not unconscious."

_What does she mean? Tewi hasn't even moved. She's unconscious, alright._

Satori shook her head sadly. "It means she's awake and aware. You may have judged from my reaction that something is wrong with her. To make a long story short, she is in the worst pain I have ever had the displeasure of sharing. Whatever is effecting her… if the hells had access to it, they'd ban its use."

Reisen was in shock, then a realization dawned on her with horror. _Then… the masters… if Tewi only got a bit of the stuff and she's this bad…_

"Oh, it gets 'better'. She's fully conscious, so she'll remember this. Think of the worst pain you've ever felt. Actually, wait, please don't." Satori quickly corrected herself as Reisen was beginning to actually do so, and Satori was not in the mood for any more of that.

"My point is that Tewi's mind is going to be destroyed. It may already be. And if your masters were exposed to even more of this stuff, they're probably better off dead."

Reisen was crying. Alice was nervous, one thought repeating in her head as Satori continued her explanation. _And I'm next… _Satori understood that Alice thought herself a target of the perpetrator, as a result of her doll fascination.

_Can't we do -anything- for them? _Reisen couldn't vocalize the words, but she was clearly thinking them.

"Well, it might be possible, but it would be far beyond my hypnotic abilities, and I've got centuries of experience."

"I've… got some hypnosis." Reisen said, and Alice's mind recalled memories, blurry ones of going through a corridor that seemed to be writhing and twisting around her.

"I really doubt it will be enough. Alright, fine, I can maybe test you. Can you perform self hypnosis at all?" Reisen nodded. "Good, you'll need it. We'll be having a spellcard duel."

"Outside, please." Alice asked. _It's a pain to clean them up if they're done in here._

Satori nodded and climbed out of bed.

* * *

_**Outside Alice's house**_

They stood ready. Satori was nervous.

"I'm not joking when I say this: if your powers -are- insufficient, then your mind will be crushed."

_That's usually my line._"It's weird hearing that from someone else."

Alice sat and was drinking tea in the distance. _I hope they finish soon. I'm still curious what Satori was seeking._

Satori took out four cards… then thought better of it and put two blank ones away. Reisen looked at her curiously as Satori declared "I'll be using two spellcards. Clear them both, and perhaps your friends can be saved." Reisen nodded.

"Is it alright if I use… a bunch, then? Say, six? I really want to save Tewi and my masters." Reisen asked. Satori nodded.

"If you can't clear these, more spellcards are just going to delay the inevitable. Here goes then."

Satori looked at her first spellcard. Last time she had used this, she had unleashed terrible suffering for petty ends. To use it again so soon felt foul, but it really was the best way to test Reisen's hypnotic skill.

"Recollection: Terrifying Hypnotism!" Satori's spellcard erupted into whirling blades of light, and Reisen seemed to dodge it with little difficulty. Still, she couldn't help but end up slightly entranced by the pattern. Then, much to Satori's surprise, Reisen -realized- that she was falling under hypnosis, and began countermeasures. The spellcard probed at her mind, but it was well defended, as though she'd trained specifically against this sort of attack in the past. Eventually a crack opened up and memories leaked out, but Satori had an imperfect recollection of Reisen's Trauma. Satori fleshed it out, and declared her second spellcard as her first timed out. Reisen was still reeling, but holding out far better than Parsee had.

"Recollection: A Soldier's Fight!" Satori declared. The surroundings seemed to change to a bleak lifeless landscape, gray rocks and black sky. Then a spray of bullets that initially seemed scattered and unorganized, but quickly hedged Reisen in. The streams crossed, and the area Reisen could dodge in became tight, until a path opened to a wider area. Reisen decided to stay where she was, though the grouping was so tight that she had to watch her breathing to avoid getting hit by a stray shot. The clear path was soon filled with an unavoidable flood of bullets that would have caught her had she fallen for the trap. Soon after, the card ended. To Alice's eyes, it meant little; a simple psych-out sort of spellcard.

To Satori and Reisen, however, it was far more. Immediately Reisen had recognized the landscape of the moon. Flashbacks to a darker time were already coursing through her mind, and the sudden spray of bullets caused her heart to nearly leap out of her chest. Soon though, she was in familiar, if uncomfortable territory, dodging suppression fire while occasional stray shots came in her direction. Then the suppression fire had tightened, cutting off her escape. It hedged her in until she was mere moments from her cover being blown away. Her breath tightened, and she saw a gap in the fire coming her way. Every fiber of her being wanted to rush through it, to get to safety, away from these hazards. Well, almost every fiber. She adjusted her own mind, removing the temptation to flee once more. She couldn't afford to leave her companions to their fates now... not again. But staying here was suicide… the temptation returned, stronger then ever, and she moved to take the opening while it lasted, to escape and flee to safety. Then it had been cut off, and she was trapped. She hadn't even managed to save herself, and now she was going to die with everyone else…

Reisen's tears spilled on to the ground as she fell to her hands and knees. "I couldn't do it. We're all doomed…"

Alice nudged Reisen. When no response was forthcoming, she lifted Reisen's head up, and Reisen saw that she wasn't alone in tears. Satori was in much the same position. Satori looked up, having gained a newfound appreciation for the rabbit.

"You win." Satori sobbed through her tears.

* * *

_**A Few hours Later**_

It had taken quite a bit of food and tea, but Reisen and Satori had calmed down. They were now sitting quietly as Alice was outside performing maintenance on some of her dolls.

"It was close… Perhaps I could have won… perhaps. The point was made though: you are good enough. Your hypnotic powers are…" Satori sighed. "at least comparable to my own. You lack skill and finesse, but you seem to have some experience in the field at least, and an innate talent that far exceeds my own."

"So there's something we can do for them…?" _Maybe all that training with Yorihime actually paid off._

"Obviously, or I wouldn't have wasted our time with this conversation. You -may- be able to rebuild their minds, essentially. I've done it myself, but only on animals. You can't read minds, can you?"

"No…" _I knew it, I'm not going to be able to do it._

"Oh, quit it. You can't, but I can. From what you've told me, you can manipulate mindwaves directly, correct?" Reisen nodded.

"But I don't do it because it's kinda random… it messes people up. Insanity and all." _It's so harmful…_

"You have got to be the most negative person I've been near lately. Use some of that self hypnosis to clear yourself up, already. Anyway, you use your powers on yourself to hypnotize yourself." Reisen nodded again. "Why does that work?"

Reisen thought about it. _I'm closer to myself? No… Is it because I'm a lunar rabbit? Yorihime's training makes me understand myself more? I'm crazy already?_

Satori sighed. "It's because you know what you're thinking." Reisen was embarrassed it had taken such a direct hint to realize it. _Oh… well, I suppose that's true._

"When you use your power on yourself, you can judge what changes you're performing. Of course, everyone's mind is different, so it's only natural that you mess people up randomly messing with their minds. Imagine if your hands were numb and you reached into a haystack, trying to find a needle within. You aren't going to find what you're looking for, and the hay's going to get all messed up, and all you might have to show for your efforts is a bit of blood."

_Who would even try that with a numb hand? You'd need sensation to tell when you were pricked, at least._

"Now you're beginning to understand. If I'm your fingertips, it'll be easier to find the needle. Of course, needles are sharp. It will hurt. Perhaps a better metaphor here would be finding a needle in a stack of razor-edged blades, considering the condition your friends are in, so you can see why I'm not terribly eager to try this. Especially if you weren't skilled enough to find the needle to begin with."

_But… what is the needle. What -am- I trying to find._

"Their mind. It's been tucked away, trying to hide from their pain. Somewhere in that field of agony, they're still there and whole. Small, weak, and terrified, but there. Think of it like a surgery in their minds"

_Easy to mess up and fatal if you do…?_"I'm not… sure I want to. This is sounding like a bit… much. And how could I hope to repay you for something like this? I saw what reading their minds did to you…

"Well, I'll certainly need help in a task of mine as well. That should suffice as payment. In fact, I should speak with Alice about that."

"When… can we do this, then?" Reisen asked nervously.

"Well, first you've got to get rid of the source of their pain. If we pull them back to full awareness, they'd just fall back under from the pain. So once you get the poison cleared out of their bodies, we can talk. Until then, there's not much we can do."

"Well… Master might be able to help…" _I never -ever- thought this would come up… I thought she was insane and paranoid… and now I just really hope she's still herself enough._

"What do you mean? Didn't you say she's effected by the poison?"

_Well, I did, but she had a plan…_

"A plan…? Go on."

Reisen proceeded to use self-hypnosis to retrieve a memory in a manner not unlike Satori. Satori carefully observed…. she could refine her own technique a great deal with a few changes. Reisen started speaking aloud in a monotone.

"Backup plan 394028: Situation: Eirin, Kaguya, Tewi incapacitated and nonresponsive due to external agent. Tasks: Determine means of incapacitation. Determine feasibility of assessing consciousness; if possible, do so. If conscious, assess feasibility of mind-reading; if possible, do so, and receive further instructions from Eirin's mind. If mind reading not available, backup plan 394029. If not conscious, backup plan 394089. If impossible to assess consciousness, backup plan 394275."

Satori was amazed. Nearly four hundred thousand? There's being prepared, then there's being paranoid, and this definitely fell in the latter category. Even if they started being numbered at 394000, what possible reason would there be other than paranoia to do so? Reisen had clearly only memorized the list with the help of her nature as a lunar rabbit and her hypnotic eyes. Eirin was, by all accounts, not a rabbit. And the plan was to retrieve information from -her- mind? Satori had met madmen before, though she tried her best to avoid them, and Eirin was sounding more and more like one.

Reisen had meanwhile returned to herself. "So, it seems she's got an idea of what to do."

"Oh, ah… right." Satori, too, snapped back to the present. "Well, I can't say I'll be happy to read her mind, but I'll admit, my curiosity has been piqued. If you can get her here, I'll be willing to see what her plan is. Just… give me some fair warning."

Reisen nodded enthusiastically _This will work out, I'm sure of it now._

"One more thing. You're a lunar rabbit… can you contact them at all?"

_Huh? Well, yeah, we can all always hear each other unless we block it out. Blocking it was the first step of Yorihime's training… keep down mental chatter..._ Satori wished she'd start doing that now... Reisen replied "Yeah…" _But we're kind of fugitives, so I don't usually do it…_

"Good, good. Find out if a war is going on up there. I've got some suspicions that that's the case."

Reisen looked worried, then headed off.

"I'll tell you what I find out." Reisen called over her shoulder.

"Well.. and least she's more positive now. She seems to have a lot of faith in her master." Satori mused to herself. She walked outside and walked over to where Alice was now sitting and drinking some tea, keeping herself and the area around the table warm with a basic spell.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. The rabbit's situation is… complicated."

"And yours?" _This'll be good._

"Well, it should go a bit faster with some light hypnosis. Do you mind?"

Alice looked a little concerned, but gave her assent. Satori conjured the hypnotic pattern and over several minutes, and Alice fell under light hypnosis, her memories poised ready to jump out.

Satori had no idea what expect, so she braced herself, focused on Alice, and asked pointedly.

"How much do you know about Makai?"

Satori had been braced, but Alice's mental defenses had been lowered. A confusing slurry of images slashed through her mind. A number of faces, sneering… Death. More death. Many deaths. Being impaled, cut in two, torn apart, drowned, burned alive, eaten alive… all these and more. All from the view of a small child, perhaps ten years of age. And after each one, one face kept appearing, along with a name, associated with complete loathing: _Shinki_.

Satori immediately broke the hypnosis, but Alice was a far cry from who she had been five seconds ago. She was curled up in a fetal position on the ground, rocking back and forth, working the shards of the teacup she had dropped earlier further into her side each time. Satori could still feel the torment she was going through.

"Reisen! Those pills! Whatever you gave me when I came here! We need them! Hurry!" Satori had the presence of mind to shout out, but she was quickly losing herself to the pull of Alice's surprisingly powerful mind. A mind now wrapped in terror and insecurity… always running, always hiding, always failing, getting caught, getting killed, and never being allowed to die. Utter powerlessness in every meaning of the word.

Reisen arrived and, quickly seeing Alice's condition, put a pill in her mouth and induced swallowing. Satori, about to lose her mental footing once again to the tide of suffering, felt the waves of torment cease, and she was able to right herself. Soon, pleasant thoughts of sipping tea and chatting with her dolls filled Alice's mind.

Satori stood, only now realizing she had even fallen.

"What happened? I came as quick as I could, but… what happened? Did Medicine attack?" _Oh no… I hope not…_

Satori shook her head, still in shock. It had been a mistake to lower Alice's mental defenses, but how could Satori have known Alice had such experiences? And what did they mean? Just what had Alice gone through? Satori couldn't understand, which worried her. Everywhere she went, it seemed there was pain…

Satori began to think that perhaps she'd be better off closing her third eye. Satori felt some trace of recognition... she felt like she should know what would happen if she did... like someone had done it before... it was on the tip of her tongue... then it was gone. Satori shrugged. She had more important things to worry about than some hypothetical situation.

* * *

_**Later, That Night**_

Alice was awake again… the night was still young, and Alice, Satori, and Reisen sat quietly, eating, discussing current events. Alice's minor wounds had been treated by Reisen while Alice had slept, and her stiff movement revealed to the canny observer that she was bandaged up beneath her dress.

"Miss Satori, I asked around… and… well… your guess was right. It seems the moon is at war again… And losing. Only the capital remains under their control." Reisen was distraught. _I should be up there, helping them fight._

"I thought as much. And… given their opponents, I don't think you really should be helping them."

_What? Who are they fighting…?_"Who-"

"Before I answer that…" Satori turned to Alice. "You're better, now, yes?"

"That was a dirty trick you pulled, satori." _That's what I get for trusting a banished youkai, I suppose._

"Look, I had no way of knowing-"

"You can read minds! You have -every- way of knowing!" _I should have just refused the hypnosis._

Satori sighed. "You want to know why I care about Makai, right?"

Alice nodded. _She owes me that, at least._

"I'll answer two questions at once, then. They're the force invading the moon."

Though Reisen merely looked confused, the name meaning nothing to her, Alice dropped her teacup. It was the second time Satori had caused this sort of reaction in Alice, and she genuinely hoped it would be the last.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Outside Alice's House**_

Alice's worried mind was filled with minor variations on one thought. _The seal… the seal was broken? How could it be broken?_

Reisen was more confused. _Makai? What's that? What's wrong with Alice? Does she know? _"What… does that mean…?"

Alice was still in shock, expressing constant disbelief, so Satori took it upon herself to answer.

"I'll admit I don't know terribly much about it, but I've gathered that those who live there are… well, evil. -Really- evil."

Alice's thoughts were returning to those she had suffered while under hypnosis, but she spoke.

"Evil… you don't fully understand, do you? If youkai are manifestations of fear, then the demons of Makai are manifestations of suffering. They live off of it as easily as humans live off of food." Alice turned to Reisen. "I truly pity your friends. I doubt you'll listen to me, but I recommend that they commit suicide." Alice's complete sincerity was clear in her mind.

Reisen was shocked. _How could she even suggest such a thing! _"Don't be ridiculous! The Lunarians won't lose to mere demons. You don't understand the kind of firepower we have."

_Firepower? It seems she still doesn't understand._"All the firepower in the world is useless against a literally infinite force. Neverminding the demons that have lived for millennia in a realm saturated with magic, the newly made are formidable in their own right. And there is no limit of those."

Reisen was getting defensive, _We'll win. We have to… The moon has never lost a war…_"We have weapons that can destroy armies with a single swipe. Completely reduce them to nothing!"

"Great, so you destroy an army. I don't think you understand what I mean when I say 'no limit'. I don't mean 'A great many.' I mean infinity. There is -one- demon whose death would matter" An image of Shinki flashed briefly in Alice's mind, "and I'm not even sure about her." Alice was beginning to relive some of the memories from her hypnosis. She was beginning to quiver in fear.

_She must be exaggerating. Infinite forces? It's impossible._"You're exaggerating. If they require resources, then there can't be a literally infinite number of them"

"That's just it. They require suffering to grow, but their creation draws from Makai's magic. Makai, as you may know, is the source of magic. When a demon dies, the magic that made it is returned to the source."

"And its soul goes to be judged." Satori added.

_We… have souls…? _Alice's surprise was genuine… though the thought gave Satori pause.

"What do you mean 'we', Alice?" Satori asked.

Alice looked profoundly nervous. _We…? Oh, no. think about… something… else…. _Alice was struggling to hide just what she had meant, but it was doing little good. She was clearly thinking of herself as a demon... but also as a human.

"Don't make me hypnotize you again."

Alice glared at Satori. _The little runt... she'd do it, too._ Satori lifted an eyebrow and smiled, _And she knows it..._and Alice continued.

"Look, I'll explain later, for now, let me continue." Satori shrugged and nodded in response before adding:

"Oh, you'll think about it, I'll learn it, then this bit of awkwardness will be gone." Alice grimaced. _I can't wait for her to leave._

"Moving on, when a demon dies, the magic used to make it returns. Trying to kill them all would be like trying to dry out the world by emptying a river with a teacup."

Reisen began to understand but still wouldn't give up. _There must be a way, though…_"Couldn't you just… poison the river or something? Some way to block the river, maybe?"

"Poison the… wait, you're serious, aren't you?" Alice was shocked. "Well, I suspect it would be difficult to make new demons if the source was poisoned, yes. But… well, you would need to poison -everything-. Perhaps a few things could survive, but it would twist the very world we knew into something unrecognizable, and certainly fatal to most of us."

Reisen looked to Satori for some support. Satori merely shrugged. Alice was speaking the truth, at least as far as Alice or Satori knew. Though it seemed Alice was leaving out a very important part: the fact that such a thing was very possible to accomplish. Another thing to ask her later.

"So you're saying there's no hope for them and they can't win then!" Reisen slammed her hands on the table, standing as she did so, staring at Alice, who did the same thing before replying.

"Yes." Alice and Reisen's arms both started to quiver. Reisen in frustration and despair, and Alice in fear and anger, their eyes locked. Satori could sense the tension, then caught a thought from Reisen.

_You just need a taste of the Moon's power! _"We -won't- lose." Before Satori could react, she saw the light between Reisen and Alice ripple and distort, and felt Alice's mind be grabbed by… something. Then that something wrenched as hard as it could, snapping Alice's mind. The sudden snap caught Satori as well, and she reeled in pain. Alice's mind, no less powerful than before, was now spouting gibberish and was fractured. Tortured splinters of images being shredded filled her mind, unable to form into anything coherent.

Satori had made it a point to avoid the insane for a very good reason. She tried to tell Reisen to knock out Alice, but wasn't not sure if the words came out. It was like trying to balance on a hair-thin wire during a windstorm, and despite her considerable skill, she lasted only a few seconds before being swept along into the tide of Alice's insanity. It's only through her extreme self discipline and skill that she managed to make a bubble quickly enough around her own mind to be able to maintain her sanity as she was bounced around by madness, slamming into unyielding shards of Alice's mind. The tumbling walls of her mind bubble kept her off balance and shook her, but she knew that if she let it fall apart, she would lose herself in it and have her own mind shredded.

Then, suddenly, the crashing waves of the mind settled into a calm sea, and Satori tentatively unwrapped her mind and opened her eyes. She was still at the table. Reisen was coming through the open door to Satori.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to.. it.. just happened. I didn't think you'd be affected." _It looks like she's okay… seems she's fine if she's not near Alice…_

"Yeah… I'm… I'm fine." Satori was a bit shaken, but she had pulled through. "Never ever do that to again without giving me some warning."

Reisen was deeply ashamed. "Okay… but.. what do we do about Alice… we can't just leave her like that…"

"We sure are a fine pair of guests, aren't we. Barge into her house, demand her help, then break her mind into a thousand little pieces?" Reisen's guilt was almost overwhelming, though Satori knew some of the blame fell on her own shoulders. She continued.

"Oh, don't get all full of yourself. I did it too, remember?" This didn't seem to comfort Reisen terribly much, but Satori kept speaking regardless: "Well, it seems you'll be getting some practice in on repairing minds before you end up doing it on your rabbit friend or your masters."

_What does she mean?_

"We need Alice back, and fast. Which means you need to undo what you've done."

_But, I've never done that. I don't know how._

"Then we'll need to figure it out. It seems you basically just grabbed and… ripped it apart. Not terribly subtle, but it should relatively easy for you to undo. And don't worry about me..." Satori had picked up a concerned thought. "I was just caught off guard before. I'll be fine. Just make sure she's in her own room and not with that Tewi girl."

Reisen nodded _Alice is in her own bed. _"I put her back in her bed." Satori nodded and walked inside.

* * *

_**A Short While Later, in Alice's Room**_

Alice was strapped down on the bed, though she had long since ceased struggling against the restraints that bound her. She was in a deep hypnosis, and Reisen straddled her, gazing into her eyes. The scene would certainly look suspect to those who didn't know what was going on.

Satori, of course, did. She was currently peering into Alice and Reisen's minds. She felt Reisen reach out and grab a part of Alice's mind.

"You've got too much. Lighten up your touch." She advised. Reisen concentrated, and with some effort, she managed to release a bit of her power, barely touching Alice's mind.

"Good, good. Now just… jiggle it a little. Just a bit." Satori winced as the thread of Alice's mind was whipped wildly from side to side, disturbing the chaos of her mind. "Stop, stop!"

Reisen immediately let go, and after a time, the thread stopped. The mind calmed once again, under the deep hypnosis.

"You're being too rough. You wouldn't be that violent to your own mind, so don't be so violent in hers."

Reisen sobbed. "It's just so hard!" _I can't ever keep it steady! Why not! Why can't she just be better already!_

Satori was quick to pick up on the cause from Reisen's heart. "You still hate her for what she said. Your pride is still hurt, and she's the source. You can't fix her while you hate her, so, well, get over it. You need to forgive what she said. Hypnotise yourself to do so if you must."

Reisen sighed. _But she… she said they'd all.. they'd all die. _Tears began spilling from her eyes.

Satori sighed. Reisen may have some hypnotic talent, but her mind was far from controlled.

"Actually, I recall her saying something more along the lines of they'd be better off dead than fighting." Reisen glared at Satori. _ So you're on her side?_

"Reisen, she didn't say that out of pride, she said it as a warning. She was advising that your people retreat... an odd form of retreat, to be sure, but it was advice, not a boast that they'd lose. Just like I'm trying to help you fix the damage you caused."

"I know, but it doesn't change what she was saying…" _They don't deserve that…_

"You're right, they probably don't. but we can't do anything to help them if we don't learn about their enemy, and Alice is the first step towards that. She mentioned something about a seal; that may be useful in stopping them."

That seemed to do it. Reisen nodded resolutely and fixed her eyes upon Alice's once more. Satori sensed resolve rather than resentment. Perhaps now they could make some progress.

Satori focused on their minds, and felt Reisen grab a random part of Alice's psyche, and rather embarrassing feelings seeped out. Satori made a mental note to mock Alice for that particular bit later, but informed Reisen :"No… that's the wrong one… try again." Reisen released, grabbed again. Feelings of relaxation and comfort poured forth. "Yes, that should do, but please be careful with it. Now, try moving it just a little."

Reisen's grip was light, and she lightly tousled the bit of psyche she had, generating soothing waves… when they reached some other shards of Alice's psyche, those reacted. Satori guided Reisen towards them.

"Keep a hold of that… or at least remember 'where' it was. We'll need it later. Now, start feeling around." Satori saw that Reisen had kept her grip on the pleasant thread, and had another 'hand' probing around. She touched a shard, but it wasn't one that had reacted to the pleasant shard.

"No, no that one. Try again. It's near there, though." She felt Reisen's mind make her minor adjustments, though it was clearly taking a great deal of effort. Another 'wrong' shard. "Again…" This time, the shard she touched was one of the resonant ones. "Perfect. Now bring it to the the one you're gripping. Move it slowly; there's some stuff in the way." Satori winced as it tapped a few other shards en route, but sighed with relief as it returned with little incident.

"Now just… try combining them. Piece them together like a puzzle." The two pieces touched at an odd angle. "Not quite… try... rotating your grip a little…?"

This went on for some time, and eventually Reisen combined the two pieces. She felt a sort of 'click' and looked up, towards Satori.

Satori slumped in her chair, exhausted. "Good work, Reisen. We need to take a break, though."

_But we've only just started..._"I can keep going."

"Don't worry. While she's in that hypnosis, we'll have time. Fortunately she doesn't need to eat any longer, so we can work slowly and carefully. It may not seem like we did much, but that bit of mind we restored acts as a sort of seed. We'll rest for a few hours, and when we come back, her mind will be a lot easier to work through."

"I just…" _I just want to do something. I can't just rest while she's like this… it's all my fault…_

"It is, and only you can fix it. Which means you need to take care of yourself first. Don't underestimate the resilience of her mind."

_Alright._"I suppose I could have some tea while I wait."

"Good idea. Let's go."

* * *

_**Later that Evening...**_

True to her word, when they resumed work after a light dinner and a soothing drink, they found the mind more organized. The small shard Reisen had pieced together was attracting and organizing the others. While Alice would likely recover in a week or so at this point, they didn't have that kind of time.

Satori and Reisen had worked out a sort of coordinate system, based on colors. It had been Reisen's idea; thinking of the mind waves as different colors of light was making it easier for her to visualize the mental field, and Satori quickly became quite good at describing it. In the next few hours, they had managed to restore a sizable chunk of Alice's psyche. A few shards remained scattered, but they ought to return overnight.

"I think that's good for now. She'll piece together the rest on her own, and the last few steps are very delicate; her mind knows best how to finish up."

Reisen rolled off of Alice and onto the floor, exhausted. She had never had to use her ability with such a fine touch before. _It was so easy to break it, too…_

"I think you're really getting the hang of it. I wouldn't suggest trying it without me, though. Even the best surgeon would be relying on luck working blind. "

Reisen nodded. "I think I need to sleep." _Here is good. _Reisen closed her eyes, sprawled on the floor next to Alice's bed, and Satori watched as she fell asleep within a few minutes.

"I suppose I'd better get some rest as well." Satori went to the entrance, and sat herself down in a comfortable chair, falling easily into sleep. It had been a busy day, but she was finally poised to get some of the answers she needed. Now, if people would just stop fighting so much, maybe they could make some actual progress.

* * *

_**Noon of the next Day**_

Satori awoke to find Alice making tea for herself. Satori shared Alice's headache, but a quick scan of Alice's thoughts showed that they were once again organized and sturdy. Equally important, it seemed Alice's sense of self was still intact. She was restored, rather than rebuilt.

"Do you mind making me some?" Satori asked.

_Oh, she's awake… did I wake her? _"I suppose not. Mind telling me why there was an unconscious Reisen in my room? Or why I was strapped to my bed?"

"Reisen got a little overzealous in the defense of her people. Made you go crazy for a bit. It took a while to fix, but it seems you're all better now."

Alice's mind replayed the events of the previous day. _Ah. Well, that explains that I suppose._"I should probably undo her bindings while the tea is steeping, then." Alice recalled, having bound Reisen as a precaution once Alice had gotten free by using her dolls to undo the restraints.

Alice went to her room, and came back after a few minutes. _She slept through the whole thing. She must have been very tired. _Satori had raised herself up and was now relaxing in a comfortable chair.

Alice sat at the table, and Satori could feel her animate a few of the dolls, who poured the tea and brought it over. Alice was exerting no more effort doing that than she had while walking up the stairs. It was as second nature to Alice as moving a limb. Then Satori realized that Alice was controlling even more… she hadn't noticed, as it took so little of Alice's mental effort. She looked outside and saw dozens of dolls sweeping the path free of snow and brushing off the furniture. Occasionally some snow would be flung off the roof in a heap.

Satori was quite surprised. "How many dolls are you controlling, anyway?"

_There's that one, that one…._ Alice started tracking them; Satori could feel her focus along the magical threads connecting Alice to each doll. "Thirty nine. The ones you can't see are in the basement reorganizing it. I'd been meaning to for a while, now." _I haven't even inventoried it for a year._

Satori was impressed. "You've no small talent, it seems."

Alice's mind beamed with pride, though her face failed to show it. "It took some practice. Now, I've been wondering. Did you mean what you said yesterday? That the demons of Makai have souls?"

Satori nodded. "I judged some of them for the Yama recently. it seems they're sent to the same one as watches over Gensokyo… and the moon, apparently." Satori winced at the painful memories, distant though they were by now.

"Sounds like it was quite the experience." _We really have souls, then. That's comforting, I suppose._

"There it is again. What 'we' are you talking about? Were you a demon? And what seal were you talking about?"

_Can't she just pull it from my mind, the little snoop?_ Satori swiftly replied "I could, but It would be much less painful if you brought it to the surface for me to skim off the top. I've had enough of minds being destroyed around me lately." Alice nodded. _I guess that's progress, then. _Satori frowned slightly, but let Alice continue. Satori focused almost entirely on memorizing what Alice was describing.

"I'm not a demon, no, but I was made the same way." Alice pictured Shinki's face. Then Satori got a view of Shinki, the goddess of Makai in all her glory, six wings spread gloriously, her red dress billowing in a mystic wind. Coloring Alice's perception, though, was a thick layer of fear.

"The goddess of Makai formed me from the magic of Makai, just as she did all the other residents, most of whom are the demons you speak of. Remember how I said they feed off of suffering?"

Satori nodded, getting a feeling for where this was going. Already, Alice's memories were becoming clearer, and Satori wasn't entirely sure which parts she was hearing with her ears and which parts she was reading with her eye.

"Well, that's why I was made. Human, through and through. I lived my earliest years there as a human, under Shinki's protection. She carefully cultured me, sheltered me from strife for ten years. I never knew hardship or suffering." Alice's fear was now mixing with a fair amount of rage.

"On my tenth birthday, her protection was withdrawn. I don't think it takes much to figure out what happens to a ten year old human girl with no skills or experience when they're thrust into a world full of demons who thrive on suffering and torment." Horrific images flashed through Alice's mind.

Satori remained unusually silent, preparing a spell to steady Alice's mind in case Alice started to lose it. But it seemed Alice had mental defenses well in place this time, and though it obviously pained her to talk of this, she was able to keep herself controlled as she continued.

"The Goddess of Makai, I don't know how, managed to restore me when I died. I suspect she has control over the souls who die there. Of course, she didn't give me her protection any longer, so it was simply another few more minutes of suffering. She kept restoring me… This continued for… I don't even know how long. It's hard to keep track of time when you spend much of it dead and the rest of it wishing you were." Alice struggled to tear away from the memories that were threatening to overwhelm her.

"How did it end?"

"I'm not entirely sure. The last one that killed me… I don't think it was a demon… She didn't seem native, anyway, and I'd never seen her before." An image of a green haired girl in a red vest, with white crisscrossing stripes, wearing a manic, horrific smile. She grabbed memory Alice's shoulder, and tore the entire right side of her body off with a single effortless pull. "She was strong… I was restored, but the woman seemed intent on causing chaos. For the first time since my tenth birthday, demons weren't there when I regained life. Wasting no time, I followed my latest murderer. She challenged the Goddess of Makai. During the fight…" _I shouldn't say… but… if they've broken free, then..._Satori tried to read further, but there was something blocking the sight of her third eye.

Satori waited, her tea forgotten and growing cold in front of her.

"I beg that you keep this next part secret." _Please don't tell anyone. I have enough enemies already, and this information could cause enormous trouble if it got out._

"If you so desire." Satori calmly replied.

Alice considered, then took a deep breath… _No, that's not enough._"Swear it. Swear it on your very existence. Swear that you will not tell anyone who doesn't already know, or anyone who doesn't absolutely, positively -need- to know in order to help us." Alice brought forth a blank spellcard. Commonly forgotten, but the pieces of paper were easily turned into binding contracts, and Alice scrawled these terms onto it swiftly, using three dolls at once to do so. "Sign it with your very essence, in blood, as I have." Well, that explained why Satori was unable to tell just what Alice was hiding. Still...

Satori was unnerved. What in the world could be so important? Making such a contract was almost unheard of, but Alice had made reasonable provisions… if Satori ended up needing to tell someone, she could.

Even so, Satori hesitated. She wasn't a fan of secrets… they were a great way to make enemies, and so many problems would go away if secrets did. It was one of the reasons she so enjoyed stealing them from minds and revealing them. A more open world, a world without lies... everyone true to their heart… it would be as close to a paradise as a satori could ever hope for.

And here she was, considering signing a soul-binding contract to keep one? She looked at the paper.

"Must I? Is it really that important."

"It is." _I wouldn't be doing this if it weren't. _Satori winced, and thought of some harsh words for the Yama when this was all over. But she drew her blood, took a pen, and signed the contract... Satori felt her course alter; felt her very soul bound… The restriction made her uneasy; she had only signed one other, and she was unnerved at their use.

Alice sighed. _I'd hoped she wouldn't. There's no helping it then…_ Alice's mind then searched through the magical wards she had placed on her home. She peered carefully for any signs of scrying, and after a few minutes, and Satori's help, Alice was satisfied the secret would remain here, and focused her mind on the tale, not even risking words. _ Listen to me..._

_During the madwoman's fight with the Goddess, I stole the Goddess' Grimoire._Alice's mind flitted to the book she always carried. Satori only now paid it any real attention. Focusing on it now, its form seemed somewhat indistinct and easy to ignore, though the lock on it was clearly of high quality, and numerous enchantments wrapped the book. Even while she had been insane and deeply hypnotized, Satori realized the book was always in Alice's tight grasp. The wards on it were powerful indeed, and it seemed bound to her in a manner similar to the contract Satori had just signed.

_This is what must be kept a secret. It contains unfathomable power. It can only be easily understood by one native to Makai, and even then, it took me a great deal of time and effort to unlock even a fraction of its secrets. To a normal human or magician, it would be almost nonsense. It has a mind of its own, you see, and it only trusts those from Makai. I once lost myself to it… thankfully, Reimu brought me back under control. She thought I had simply gone mad with power._An image of someone who looked like Reimu flashed through Alice's mind… similar, but with a few key differences. Most notably, her hair was a bright violet.

_No, I don't know why her hair was purple. I'm not even sure it's the same Reimu, honestly._ Alice explained, picking up on Satori's curious expression. _She just called herself that._

Satori listened intently. She had bound her soul to this knowledge, so she may as well learn it.

_In any case, I managed to become a magician youkai after I had unlocked some basics of magic. It turns out being literally formed out of magic and being raised in Makai does something for one's magical affinity. I even had enough control over it to advance my age before completing the spell to lock it. I didn't exactly cherish the idea of being ten forever, you see. Ah, but I'm getting ahead of myself._

_While the green haired madwoman fought with Shinki, Shinki unleashed an attack of indescribable magnitude._ Alice recalled the terror as she watched Makai; it's people, it's buildings, parts of its very existence, be wiped away by the tremendous power wielded by its creator. Enormous waves and beams of energy swept over the land, destroying everything they touched. Then the attack intensified. _I tried to find my way out of the chaos, and found and followed Marisa. She looked like she knew a way out and was moving that way as quickly as she could. I followed her, and my panic somehow allowed me to match her own frenzied pace._The images Alice described flowed through her head as she described them, giving Satori a view of the terrified escape.

_We exited out of some sort of gate, and Marisa paid me no attention at all, while she and 'Reimu' made a seal. I don't remember much of how it was made, unfortunately, but it was mighty powerful. I made myself scarce afterward. That's the end of my tale of Makai._

Satori thought it over, and after a while, asked.

"Why is it so important to keep... -it- secret?" Satori asked. To be sure, the Grimoire had seemed important to Alice, but that hardly warranted a soul-binding contract.

_Remember the spell that annihilated Makai? _Satori nodded. Even watching it through Alice's mind, it had instilled a sense of wondrous fear.

_It's in the book. It's not even the most powerful effect in there. There are a lot of spells that are impractical. That annihilation spell drew upon most of the magic at its very source. The more powerful spells… Remember what I said about trying to empty Makai of magic as being like trying to dry the world by taking cupfuls out of a river?_

Satori nodded. "A fitting analogy, yes."

_Thank you. These more powerful spells would… well, transmute the water into fire, in essence. Fundamental rewritings of the very nature of magic… even of life itself. I think I may even have found the spell that was used to create Makai. I doubt even the Goddess of Makai herself knew the full contents of the Grimoire. As I said, these spells are far beyond me, both in understanding and power. But that annihilation spell? Relatively easy. All it really requires is a basic understanding of magic and the will to cast it. One needn't even understand how it works. And there are several other such spells. Even a novice could cast them, and doing so could destroy Gensokyo._

Satori was suddenly very relieved that she had signed the contract. If this information were commonly known… well, Alice had been right; it would be disastrous. At least now Satori wouldn't need to worry about accidentally spreading it… or being compelled to.

_Oh, but it gets worse. Remember when I said the Grimoire had a mind of its own? I'm not joking. When it possessed me and I attacked Reimu… _Alice struggled to get out the next words, but found herself stalling. _The attacks she faced were a mere setup to such a spell. I almost wiped out everything. She could tell you that the experience was… a bit odd, I suspect. _

"What can I say? I'm glad you didn't."

Alice nodded in agreement._ You and me both. Even so, the Grimoire… I'm not sure of it's nature, but it certainly belonged in Makai… it was very demon like in its attitude. It had little difficulty possessing me then, but after I was possessed, I severed as many of my connections with Makai as I could without losing my magic. Now it can't possess me, but it's also far more difficult to read. __Only my past experience with it has given me any sort of idea how to decode it. Even so, if it were to fall into the hands of a novice mage, or even one who didn't know what to expect, it may well mean the end of the world if the Grimoire wished it._

"But why not simply… not mention the it to me? If I didn't know, I wouldn't have had to be sworn to secrecy" Satori was clearly a bit bitter, yet. "It didn't seem particularly integral to the story…"

_Then you haven't thought it through enough. I think it has -everything- to do with what's happening now. _Alice looked Satori dead in the eyes.

"She wants it back." Satori realized with a cold comprehension. A shiver ran down her spine.

_That's right. And it seems she's willing to go to war for it. It's only a matter of time before she finds out where it is. And who knows about it. _Satori was experiencing a new sensation... an uncomfortable dislike of the truth.

"What can we do?" Satori asked.

"Find out why the seal broke, and if it can be repaired. If we can keep her from coming here and seal the entrance to Makai again, then we can fight the demons and hope for victory. It's a start, anyway." _If all else fails, there's always the Grimoire, but it would be difficult to use that without destroying… well, everything._

"I was going to speak with the other magicians… they may know more."

Alice nodded. "Good idea."_ All magicians have at least a passing familiarity with the realm. Marisa was there, of course, and Patchouli has access to a great many resources. They'd be good to consult, yes._

"Where would Marisa be, though? She wasn't at her place."

_Probably out getting reagents. Either that or at the Hakurei Shrine of course. Or here, but she obviously isn't._" She's probably just gathering reagents. I'll leave a doll at her place, so come back here once you've finished. I'll have her wait here."

"Alright. I suppose I'm off to speak with Patchouli."

"Well, there is someone else you may wish to speak to first. It seems the woman that fought the Goddess of Makai is here in Gensokyo. I can't be sure, but she at least shares the name and general description. She called herself Yuuka Kazami. Apparently, she lives in the large sunflower field near Youkai Mountain. I'd be careful, though. She did fight the Goddess and survive an attack that destroyed Makai, after all, so she's not someone to be taken lightly. Still, she would be a valuable ally for those same reasons."

Satori couldn't help but agree. "I'll seek her out, then. I suspect there's no love lost between herself and the Shinki." _Don't say her name!_ Alice's panicked mind pleaded. _It may draw her attention..._

Satori nodded. "Very well then. I'll be off."

Alice waved as Satori left. "I'll try and help Reisen with her problem in the meantime." Satori had completely forgotten about the rabbit's problems, but they seemed minor indeed in face of this new threat.

* * *

_**Early Afternoon, Above the Garden of the Sun, at the base of Youkai Mountain**_

Satori flew over the field of sunflowers, looking down on it. She began to fly down, but the field was making her very nervous. Perhaps its was the flowers' full bloom, despite the wintery season. Perhaps it was their incredible height, easily surpassing eight feet. It was nearly noon, and she noticed a few fairies sunbathing on the flowers, enjoying the unusual weather in the field, though they panicked and fled as soon as they heard her movement.

But what really worried Satori were the thoughts. The flowers themselves seemed unusually aware. Nevermind that these are the first plants she had ever encountered with minds, their thoughts were eerie. Warnings, barely repressed memories, terror; the sunflowers had only the most basic of thoughts, but it was easy enough to get the sense from them… The whisper of the winds through the stalks of the sunflowers seemed to carry muffled cries of pain and fear. Perhaps it was just her imagination, her stressed mind playing tricks on her, but there seemed to be an air of nervous respect about them.

"Yuuka? Yuuka Kazami? I need to speak with you." Satori called out, and almost immediately, the whispers seemed to turned to screams, the slight hum of nervous minds turning into a panicked shriek. Satori's heart skipped several beats. She was really beginning to regret coming here. Maybe she'd just… leave. Yeah. Yuuka could wait for another day. Satori began to fly back up.

But the sun was blocked out. The sunflowers had turned their stems and heads… they were now watching Satori, no doubt, trapping her under their canopy. She could feel their minds begging for her to escape… or was that her own?

She tried to fly forward, but the stems themselves seemed to impede her, the wind pushing them just so as to get in her way. No… It can't have been the wind. Then she read it.

_Oh ho… A challenge? I -never- get those any more._ The mind that thought it wasn't particularly mighty, but the presence behind it was almost overwhelming. Satori turned around, and the thinker stood before her. She held a closed parasol, pointed towards the ground, and wore a red checkered dress, and green hair. And a smile. A nice, innocent smile, but the flowers themselves seemed to be cowering and groveling to her, as they opened a path for the sun to shine on her, while Satori was kept trapped within their foliage. She looked just like Alice's memory of her, though with different clothes, and a more pleasant smile.

Her heart, though, was not a pleasant thing in the least.

"No, no, it wasn't a challenge. I just had questions to ask you. About… Makai…"

Yuuka lifted an eyebrow. _Who said anything about a challenge? Makai, though. It rings a bell, but I can't quite place it. _"I didn't say anything about a challenge. What did you mean by that?"

"Ah, I… must have… heard it… somewhere." Satori was reluctant to admit to reading this woman's mind, for some reason, but she was a terrible liar, what with her absolute lack of practice.

"Read it from my mind, did you? That's rather rude. You should have simply said so." _You disgusting wretch. _Yuuka's smile remained, but the tension only rose higher.

"I, well. If you're busy, I… suppose I should go." Satori staggered back a bit.

_What, before we even play?_" Come now, you called me here. What did you wish to know? How might the great sage Yuuka help you?"

"I was… looking for… someone to… well… help… fight the demons from Makai." Satori stammered out the last part quickly.

_Fighting… sounds like fun, but…_"I don't serve those I don't respect. And you have done very little to warrant my respect. You're small, scrawny, cowardly, and your magical aura is quite simply embarrassing. If it weren't for that extra eye you've got trained on me, I wouldn't even think you're a youkai."

"I am, I am. You're just… a little overwhelming."

_Now she's being a little more honest._"I have that effect on some. Now come, what say we have a spellcard duel? You win, I help you out. I win, you become mine." Satori could feel the ancient mind of the creature she faced looming before her. Not an especially powerful mind, no, but one that had seen many battles, and countless years, backed by a terrifying heart.

"What do you mean… when you say… become yours?" Satori asked, and images flashed through Yuuka's mind. Images of Satori being tortured, bound to a newly grown, large sunflower… images of the sun rising and falling many times as she was tormented constantly by a cruel Yuuka. Whatever else Alice had said, she had been right on one count; Yuuka fit right in with the demons of Makai. After countless sunrises, Satori noticed the thick flower stem she had been bound to grow around her, eventually completely covering her, at which point Yuuka stopped bothering Satori, but only because there wasn't a Satori to speak of. A mind, certainly, but devoid of any resistance or will. The images flashed forward several more days, weeks, months, years... Satori's new body lasting forever, spirit trapped within.

Then Yuuka spoke, her cheery smile seeming more out of place than ever, pulling Satori back to the present.

"It's a surprise."

Satori staggered backwards, falling to the ground terrified. She scrambled backwards, aware that Yuuka need not put any effort into producing this level of terror. It was simply her nature. Knowing this didn't stop Satori from feeling like a helpless child, though.

"No… no, I think I'll... I'll just... go instead." She stuttered.

_What a shame._ "Well, if we aren't bound by spellcard rules..." _I suppose that means I can just do whatever, then?_

Satori realized the implications immediately from Yuuka's mind, and hadn't even waited for her to finish her sentence before having a sudden change of heart. She reached for her spellcards, but a vine had wrapped itself around her arm. She tried to declare a duel, to bind her enemy to the powerfully enforced rules such a duel would entail, but a vine wrapped around her mouth as she opened it. This resulted in a surprisingly effective gag, though the other vine that choked off her breath at her throat may have helped in that capacity. Her cloak was torn away, though among the flowers, Satori felt no winter chill. Satori's other limbs were grabbed, and pulled tight, hard enough that it felt as though they would tear right off. They then straightened her out, arms held high, legs pulled low, several feet off the ground, and she felt them being bound to a sunflower stalk. The image Satori saw in Yuuka's mind now as Yuuka looked at Satori was a frighteningly familiar one. In fact, it was the first in a long line of images she had seen there very recently. And Satori knew that Yuuka had every intention of fulfilling every image of that set.

Satori's attempts at screams were muffled not only by the gag, but by the sunflowers themselves as they gazed down at her, a look of pity for the newest victim of Yuuka Kazami.

* * *

_**Author's notes**_

First of all, let me thank you for reading this far. This chapter was a bit shorter, but I think this was a good stopping point. This is a bit of a turning point in the story. It will begin focusing a little more on non-Satori characters. It's also the point where it begins to get quite a bit darker. You know, because it was so fluffy and cheery before.

To be honest, this author note is here in large part to get folks used to the idea that they'll be showing up later. The next few chapters should be up in short order, but it will slow down a bit after that.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Meanwhile, at Alice's House**_

"Wow, this is working really well!" Udonge said to Alice over the crystal ball, which was held by three beautifully crafted wooden statues of angelic figures.

"Thank you. I reverse engineered the enchantment on several dolls that Yukari modified for me. Now I can control and communicate with some specially modified dolls remotely. This is the first time they've been used outside of testing, but it's clearly working fine."

Inside the crystal ball was a view of Eientei. It looked normal, though the same eerie silence still surrounded it.

"I'm curious... could we talk through this?" Reisen asked Alice. Alice responded with pride.

"Of course. It wasn't easy to add that feature, let alone -test- it. For some reason, Marisa wouldn't agree to take the dolls a distance a ways for me. Ah well."

The doll floated towards Eientei, and opened the door with some effort on Alice's part.

"Alright. Now go down the first hall on the right.." Reisen started to guide Alice through the halls of Eientei. After a few minutes going through the weaving corridors, Reisen could swear she heard something in a very quiet voice.

"Don't worry, baby, mommy's going to save you from those mean people controlling you."

"Alice, turn it around! She's nearby!" Reisen shouted. Alice looked confused, but only for a moment, after which she had refocused her attention on the crystal ball and its now empty contents.

* * *

"I think she knew we were coming. Do you know any alternate paths she may not have discovered yet?"

Reisen nodded and spoke. "Tewi's got quite a few that I've found... Still… She can't be everywhere at once… would it be possible to send multiple dolls down multiple routes?"

"Of course, but… We'll only be able to watch one at a time. So we'll need to flicker between them. You'll also be missing out on my witty conversation… it will take a lot of concentration to send even three in at once at this distance. I might be able to manage four."

Reisen considered for a moment… "Yes, that should work. Oh, how were you planning on getting Eirin and Kaguya out? The doll seemed to have trouble even opening the door."

"You want them out? Well, I think I can manage that, but I thought we were just grabbing some medicine."

"I'd rather not leave them in the clutches of that monster, no."

Alice shrugged. "Very well. I'll need to know their weights, though."

Reisen pulled a journal out of her pocket and handed it to Alice. "Master said to keep track of these things. 'It's easier to diagnose an illness if you have records of daily changes.'" Reisen recited an oft heard line from her Master.

Alice thumbed through it, rather impressed. These notes were at least as rigorous as her own tended to be. She quickly found the relevant figures, and grinned. It seemed the princess had been letting herself go, lately.

Reisen noticed the smile and hastily added "Umm… And… maybe don't tell everyone about their weights. Please? I was told not to tell anyone." Realizing a little late that she had done just that.

"We'll see." Reisen's ears and eyes dropped a bit. "Anyway, with this, I think I can modify a doll that should be able to get them out of there. Another thing. How durable are they? Getting them out and getting them safely to the ground are two different things."

"They'd have no problem with a drop of that height. The Princess is immortal, of course, and Master is terribly fit. I've seen her suffer injuries that would worry a vampire and end up no worse for wear."

Alice nodded. "Very well, then. I'll get to work on the next set of dolls."

* * *

_**The Next Morning**_

The next four dolls were sent in, all specially modified. After going over Eientei's structure with Reisen, Alice sent each doll in a separate path.

Alice flickered the crystal view between the dolls, preparing their next few automated movements while she would be unable to view through them. Reisen was getting confused just watching, but she remained silent, admiring Alice's concentration and delicate hand motions. Alice looked not unlike a traditional witch, waving her hands mysteriously over the crystal balls, occasionally chanting brief incantations in some foreign tongue. Reisen could swear she was glowing somehow. She was channeling no small amount of magical energy, and the tension in the room was wearing on Reisen's nerves.

Alice managed to find Eirin and Kaguya with one of the dolls. Around that time, another's view turned dark, then stopped being included in the cycle as Alice chanted a brief spell. The active doll heard an explosion, and the doll with Eirin and Kaguya was carefully positioned. Alice seemed to be studying the room whenever that doll appeared now. Another remaining doll moved towards that same room, and the last one sought the medicine storage.

Reisen had given Alice a list of things she needed, and their position within storage. Prepared, that doll swiftly managed to pack as much of the needed ingredients into a bag as it could, then began approaching the same room as the other two.

The other doll en route to the room with the heads of Eientei in it suddenly had a view of Medicine speaking into it.

"I don't know who it is that's controlling these poor babies, but when I find out who you are, not even death will free you from-" The view suddenly went blank, and shifted to another one as Alice cast a spell. She was now clearly worried, and she focused her remaining attention on the two remaining dolls.

Reisen heard through one of their views a howl of rage, agony, and despair, clearly in Medicine's voice. Alice really was literally radiating magical energy now, almost like she was leaking out of a couple of holes. Reisen watched, worried, but didn't say anything to break Alice's concentration.

The two remaining dolls were united, and immediately the one that had just entered the room ducked into a hiding place near the wall.

The first stood behind Kaguya and Eirin's unmoving forms. It had, without Reisen even having noticed, moved them into a single pile. She wanted to scream at Alice to get them out of there, and ask what she was waiting for, but seeing the look of concentration and exertion on Alice's face, Reisen restrained herself.

The view now switched and steadied on the hiding doll's view, able to watch both entrances of the room.

Medicine Melancholy flew in. Her dress was badly tattered, and she looked burned. her childish face was also twisted into an expression of utter rage, and as she ran towards the doll in the middle, Alice tensed up and vocalized some sort of trigger word. As Medicine got within arm's reach of the doll, poorly hidden beneath Kaguya and Eirin, Reisen watched as the doll exploded violently, launching her masters into the air.

Reisen was nearly deafened by the sound, and while Alice was clearly worried, now obviously leaking from a third magical hole, she commanded the lone remaining doll up and out one of a pair of newly formed holes in the ceiling. Reisen stood slack-jawed. Had Alice really just set off a bomb under her masters? If Eirin ever found out...

Alice had the last doll hide the medicine a far ways from Eientei.

The view then cut out entirely. Alice quickly spoke "You should hurry... bring them here. Medicine should… be out of commission for just a bit, though… So you should really hurry." Alice performed some motions… as though she were resealing the magical leaks that had been pouring out of her.

"Now, I need to rest…" And Alice, clearly drained, staggered towards her room. Reisen looked around, unsure of what to do, but soon followed Alice's advice and, after a bit of searching found a small wagon she could set up to carry the pair.

A loud thump echoed through the house. Reisen saw Alice lying on the ground, moaning, her door open. She rushed in to help, and settled Alice into bed.

Reisen didn't know much about magician physiology, but she knew youkai in general would typically recover spent magic as easily as a human would catch their breath, though it tended to take longer. Alice seemed to have sealed off whatever was making her bleed magic, but even so, Reisen decided one can never be too careful. She used some of the few tools she had with her to check that nothing was out of the ordinary, just to be sure, but within a few minutes, she was gone to rescue her masters and their best hope of salvation.

* * *

_**Meanwhile, in the Netherworld, at Hakugyokurou**_

"I'm telling you, this is too many spirits!" Youmu cried. The netherworld was flooded with spirits. True ghosts, this time, rather than the desire spirits Youmu had helped deal with a while ago.

"And I'm telling you it's no problem. With the expansion Shikieiki gave us, We'll have plenty of room." Her mistress Yuyuko replied.

"And -I'm- telling -you- that the problem is that there are so many coming! Something huge must be happening in the world!" Youmu continued, proving unusually defiant.

Yuyuko laughed. "You just want another chance at solving an incident, don't you?" She sipped her tea, as Youmu looked a bit sheepish, having lost her thunder.

"Well… I mean… yeah…. kinda." Youmu cast her glance downwards in shame.

"Well, I had a good bit of fun myself during that night incident. More than enough to keep me entertained for a while, but I suppose you're young and all that. Besides, I'm very curious about what's causing them to come as well. So I'll let you go investigate so long as you bring a good story back for me. Don't worry about me, I'll be well cared for. All these ghosts and such."

Youmu felt very proud of her ability to contain her excitement as the bowed deeply and said "Thank you." She calmly walked into their home and began to pack. As she left, Yuyuko smiled as Youmu's ghost half was doing literal aerial somersaults in clear joy.

* * *

_**At the Entrance to the Netherworld**_

Youmu had just left the netherworld proper when she saw a red and white speck flying towards her.

"Oh, come on. The first person I see?" Youmu couldn't believe her luck. This was not a promising start to her adventure.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the half ghost… I've seen the spirits around, I know your master is up to something." Reimu Hakurei declared, pointing her gohei at Youmu.

"Well, you're welcome to try talking to her. If she knows anything, she didn't tell me."

"You're being unusually cooperative. You must be hiding something!" Reimu declared. Youmu covered her forehead and sighed. There was simply no reasoning with her, was there?

"I'd really rather not fight you, but apparently, you won't let me go and investigate this."

"You mean -let the culprit's aide escape-!"

"Right, right… let's fight, then. One card." Youmu wanted this over as soon as possible. She only had so many changes of clothes on hand.

"Hah! That's some confidence! Time to teach you some humility! Five!" Reimu declared, before launching into her assault.

* * *

_**One Spellcard Duel Later**_

"My win! Now tell me what Yuyuko is up to!" Reimu hovered a little over the defeated Youmu.

"Last I saw, she was drinking tea. If Lady Yuyuko knows anything about what's going on, she hasn't told me. Right now, she's probably complaining that she's out of tea and wants more. She probably forgot about the bunch I brewed earlier this morning. Oh, and she's probably getting hungry now, too. What more do you want?" Youmu rambled. Reimu looked unimpressed. Luckily for Youmu, her clothes were still fine, just a little dirty, but not torn. Her hair was a mess, but that was easy enough to fix.

"I suppose I believe you now… But I think it's time I had a little talk with your mistress. Don't you dare run away, now. I'll need to punish you properly once I'm done with your boss." Reimu said and flew off.

Youmu thanked her lucky stars and flew onward and away. If Reimu wanted to deal with a bored and hungry Yuyuko, Youmu sure wasn't going to stop her. Once that shrine maiden got an idea into her head, it took some serious damage to knock it loose, and Youmu wasn't quite in the mood at the moment. Though, with the shrine maiden out of the way, things were looking like they could only get better. After all, it's not like they could get worse.

Of course, that's what everyone always thinks, isn't it?

* * *

_**Yukari's Home**_

"Everything's clear, then?" Yukari asked, pulling her covers up to her neck.

"Yes." Ran replied simply.

"Juuuust to be sure…" Chen started. Yukari smiled, and nodded to Ran to explain.

Ran turned to her shikigami. "Yukari says she's going to need to concentrate for a while. Something's happening in Gensokyo that's causing the barriers to that realm to crumble, and she needs to maintain them, while it will be our job to fix them."

Yukari nodded. "Just one little thing. You sound like you don't believe me, Ran."

Ran pointedly looked away. "I never meant to imply such a thing. If you say you'll be mending barriers and not sleeping, then you're mending barriers, and that's what I'll tell everyone."

Yukari sighed, shrugged under her blankets, and spoke. "Well, you want some proof? The first thing I'm going to do is reclaim the energy I've invested into keeping the netherworld boundary open. I'm going to need it to work with. But you know... As long as you do what you're told, I don't really care -what- you believe."

Ran sighed and spoke to Chen. "Well, let's get going then. I've got some ideas of people to talk to." Chen eagerly nodded and the pair headed through a gap filled with a multitude of eyes that seemed to watch them carefully. While following Yukari's orders, Ran could freely access them herself. While Yukari's commands tended to chafe, this time at least, Ran was in complete agreement (Though it helped a great deal that the orders were so vague). Whatever was going on, it was big. Something was stirring, and Ran shared every bit of Yukari's intention to make sure it didn't get out of hand.

Chen, meanwhile, was clearly looking forward to this grand adventure.

* * *

_**At Hakugyokurou**_

"Look, I know you're involved -this- time. There are only so many kinds of spirits, you know!" Reimu was getting impatient.

"Well, As you can see, we've got some overpopulation problems here, too. Good thing we just got that expansion or things would be getting out of hand."

"Well, do something about them! They're supposed to stay over here, but they keep bothering me at the shrine"

"It's really out of my hands. Until Yukari fixes the barrier, they'll just do whatever they please. But you want a fight, don't you? Fine, fine…" Yuyuko stretched as she stood up, yawning and leaving her tea on the ground.

"And when I win, you'll tell me who the culprit is?"

"Of course."

* * *

_**Several duels later**_

"Four retries, Reimu? You must be having an off day, huh?" Yuyuko chided, her robe slightly torn.

"Stuff it. I won, so tell me where the culprit is." Reimu had seen better days; her clothes were badly shredded from multiple losses, and her body was already sore. Yuyuko had fought with gusto.

"Well, it seems that Makai is mounting some sort of invasion. There have been a lot of casualties…" Yuyuko gestured to the ghosts that surrounded her. "And they seem to be looking for a god or something in Gensokyo. That's probably why they were bothering you... of course, you don't -have- a god at your srhine, do you? I suppose they'll probably stop soon enough. That good enough?"

"Thank you." Reimu spat the words out bitterly as she flew away. Yuyuko sat back down and resumed drinking tea, chuckling. It was so easy to get a rise out of Reimu.

A few minutes later, she came back. "Yuyuko, what did you do to the exit?"

"Lost already? Here, I'll take you there. I guess I knocked more sense out of you than I thought. Or perhaps your vaunted intuition isn't as perfect as you say it is" Yuyuko laughed merrily, but Reimu simply glared at her as they took off.

They arrived at the entrance to the netherworld in just a few minutes, but as Reimu continued on her way out, she was stopped suddenly.

"See! This is what I'm talking about! Something's wrong!"

"Oh, wow. It's been a few years, I guess. Seems Yukari finally fixed the barrier like you wanted her to. Oh well, I've decided not to bother with that silly tree anyway, and I think Youmu can probably still get back here." Yuyuko mused aloud. Reimu stared in disbelief, mouth hanging open.

"You mean I'm -stuck here-? Why now, of all times?"

"Well, we did just duel for a few hours. If I know her… and I do, she simply needed her efforts elsewhere. As I understand, keeping the barrier to the netherworld open was quite taxing. I should really send her a thank you card for keeping it open for so long. The ghosts really enjoyed being able to visit their families. As for you, welcome to being dead! It'll grow on you, trust me."

"No! I didn't die, so I'm not dead! I'm getting out of here!" Reimu cried out and started channeling magic towards the barrier, to no effect.

Yuyuko watched the assault, and laughed merrily "Skipping right to denial? Or was that the first step? Ah, I can never keep it straight. At least there are worse ways to die, right?"

Reimu was absolutely livid now, as she glared at the wisecracking Yuyuko and stuck a finger at her. "You know what, I can just float out of here. So the last joke's on you."

Yuyuko suddenly grew extremely concerned, and she moved with an uncharacteristic swiftness to apply a viselike grip to Reimu's hand. Reimu was caught off balance. "What… what are you doing?"

"Don't. Try. To float. Away. As it is now, you're dead. That's not the worst thing you could be. If you float away form reality here, in the netherworld, with the barrier back up... think about what would happen. Floating out of reality while alive is one thing… doing it here… where do you think you would go?" Yuyuko looked serious, a new expression in Reimu's eyes.

Reimu considered Yuyuko for a while, tempted to try floating away just to spite her, but then considered. What -would- happen? Yukari had once tried to explain her power to her in a metaphor, though it wasn't particularly helpful.

As Reimu understood it, if floating on the water's surface was normal life, then when Reimu "floated away" it was like climbing into a boat on the surface. Things in the water couldn't really effect her, but reverse was far from true (Though there were some adjustments Reimu had had to learn). Reimu had wondered what would happen if the boat was damaged, but Yukari had shrugged the question away. Reimu considered the times she had used her power while in the netherworld, and it was like being underwater... she could get into the boat, but she had to break the surface of the water first. With the barrier returned, would there even be a surface? Would she just ascend uncontrollably? And what would happen to the barrier? Reimu lamented knowing the limits of her ability, and ultimately decided against testing them now.

Reimu was still furious, but it seemed she had put that idea out of her mind, at least. Yuyuko smiled and returned to her normal relaxed self, releasing Reimu's hand before speaking with a smile.

"Now, Youmu isn't here, so perhaps you wouldn't mind putting some tea on for me, maybe making dinner. In fact, why not just take her place for a few days while this gets sorted out?"

"No way! I'm not your servant!" Reimu said, before noticing Yuyuko had pulled out some spellcards and was grinning eagerly.

"Fine, but if I win, then you get a hold of Yukari and get me out of here." Yuyuko laughed.

"If you win, I'll try to let her know you're here. No promises on when she'll get you out though. She knows what's best, you know, and she's hard to get a hold of."

"Good enough. She knows she needs me to figure this out." Reimu pulled out her cards, and they began to duel.

* * *

_**Late that Evening**_

Yuyuko sat sipping her fresh tea happily.

"You probably wish you'd brought more changes of clothes, don't you? You should have just given up while you still had any of your own. It was simply improper to continue as long as you did, really."

Reimu was not particularly thrilled at her situation. She was wearing some of Youmu's clothes, but Youmu's body wasn't quite as developed as Reimu's, and it was a very poor fit indeed, uncomfortable and constricting. The skirt was a little too short for her comfort, it was hard to breath, it itched enough to drive her mad, and the numerous bruises and small cuts she had from the countless battles earlier today didn't make it any easier. It seemed Yuyuko was proving especially skilled and stubborn today.

"Tomorrow. I'll beat you tomorrow, then you'll get me out of here."

"I don't mind entertaining you some more, but when we run out of Youmu's clothes, we'll have to stop. I won't have you running around with nothing to wear, and I'm not giving you mine just to shoot them apart. And I should remind you that you're wearing her most recently fitted clothes. They aren't going to get more comfortable as we run low."

"Well, aren't you smug. I was just having an off day. Tomorrow for sure I'll be out of here." Reimu tried to convince herself. Yuyuko shrugged and smiled.

"Well, it seems Youmu will have some tailoring to do when she gets back, then."

* * *

_**Three Days Later, at Alice's House**_

Marisa opened the front door and stepped into Alice's house, the midafternoon sun lighting up the place.

"Yo! Alice! I'm coming in!" Marisa declared, her feet firmly in the door already. She started making her way to the bookshelf and was suddenly stopped by a familiar rabbit youkai appearing in her path and glowering.

"Hey, bunny, what's up? Whatcha you doin' in our forest?" Marisa stopped to actually take a look around, and noticed another rabbit lying on the couch."

Reisen pointedly indicated Marisa's feet, under which was Eirin's immobile body.

"Ha! Whoops. Hope she doesn't hold that against me when she wakes up! Whatcha doing here, though? Wait, don't tell me… The bamboo forest burned down!" Marisa suggested, stepping off of Eirin and onto the floor.

"Nothing quite so minor, I'm afraid." Reisen sighed.

"Only you loonies would say that having the area your house was in burning is minor."

"I never said it was minor. It's just… what actually happened is less minor."

"Wow! Piss off someone nasty, did you? Ohh, probably Yuuka and she locked them in a dream or something!"

"Yuuka can.. do that?"

"I'unno" Marisa shrugged, and Reisen continued.

"No.. no, that's not it. I'm pretty sure I know the cause anyway. They were poisoned. Really, really, really badly. I'm trying to treat them, but not having any luck."

"Where's Alice?" Marisa said, before hearing a weak voice from Alice's room.

"Come here, Marisa." Reisen went back to work and let Marisa attend Alice.

As soon as she entered the room, she saw Alice resting in bed. She was calmly reading a book, much recovered from her previous ordeals.

"About time you showed up. Where have you been."

"Eh, gathered reagents, Went to Reimu's place. She wasn't there so I waited for a few days. She ran out of food so I went home, saw the doll, saw the note, came here. What's up?

"You ate Reimu's food? She's not going to be happy about that... Anyway, Satori wished to speak with you."

"Do I... know her? Name's not ringing a bell."

"Yes. She was the owner of Chireiden."

"Noooot sounding familiar."

"Helped us find and stop the hell raven? Able to read minds? Lots of pink and purple?"

"Keep going...?"

"The one you wanted to go back and steal the stained glass windows from?"

"Oh, her! Yeah, lucky for her I realized I don't really have any windows that big. What'd she want?"

"She wishes to speak about Makai. It seems they're up to their old tricks, and she intends to do something about it."

"Makai? Wow, that's a tall order with a side of bad news. Haven't been there for a long time. Where's she now, then?"

"I told her to speak with Patchouli. Wait... no, I told her to try talking to Yuuka first. Yuuka could be a valuable ally, after all. She's already fought the goddess once."

Marisa laughed. "Yuuka? Hah, that's rich! Don't tell me she fell for it! Oh, wow. Yuuka, an ally. And people say you've got no sense of humor."

Alice simply glared at her, and after Marisa realized Alice wasn't joining in, she suddenly sobered up.

"You're serious?" Marisa questioned, and Alice answered with a simple nod.

"What the hell were you thinking, you idiot! No one deserves Yuuka, not even that annoying mind-reader!"

"What... well, I mean, Yuuka was... -really- violent, but... we need every ally we can get."

"You clearly don't know Yuuka very well. I'm off to save the girl you just sent to a fate worse than death. If I can."

Marisa darted out the door and zoomed away towards the Garden of the Sun before Alice was even out of bed.

"I'd better follow her. Marisa's going to just get herself into more trouble again otherwise."

* * *

_**Deep Within the Garden of the Sun**_

Satori was a mess. Her outfit was now badly torn, shredded by repeated whipping. Cuts and gashes covered her body, and her magic was drained, her mind pitying herself just as the sunflowers that surrounded her did.

Yuuka approached her again, now carrying what looked like a thorny club. Satori recognized the cause of a great number of the wounds she now bore. _Now let's see. According to the schedule, this is when the real fun begins._

"Are you ready for something new today? I hope you'll enjoy it. I certainly will. Today it's time to teach you about the importance of privacy. Maybe you'll stop probing others' minds now. You see, I'm just trying to make you a better person."

Satori struggled to recall. What day was this? And yesterday was the business with the dirt… That would make today…

Satori's heart sank, and tears blurred her vision. She turned away from Yuuka as best she could, but knew that it was only a matter of time before Yuuka grew tired of mocking her and got down to business. It always was.

Then she heard a vaguely familiar voice call out.

"Yuuka! I'm here for you, you monster!"

"Oh my, another challenger? Two in a week… What fun~" Yuuka said, her characteristic innocent smile on her face as usual. The flowers around the pair parted, the sudden light blinded Satori, she squirmed as the light was painful even with her eyes closed. Yuuka looked up, and Satori heard a familiar mind.

_Every time, I wish the gold here were actual gold…_ "There you are! Where is…"  
Marisa shouted, before noticing Satori._ Oh… wow… glad I got here in time. What -was- Alice thinking…? _Marisa shook her head and shouted out.

"You and me, Yuuka, spellcard duel. You win, She goes free. I win, you give her up." Marisa shouted out, approaching, while hoping _Come on.. agree... agree..._. Satori hoped Yuuka would fall for it, but already knew what Yuuka would demand.

"Nice try, Marisa. How about if -you- win, she goes free, and if I win, I get you both."

"Same to you; how about if I win, we -both- go free, and if you win-"

"I get you both. Sounds good: Four cards!" Yuuka declared, sealing the duel with the agreed terms.

_Shoot. She was too quick to declare. Well, nothing to do but win then! _Marisa's resolve began burning through Satori's self-pity. "Six!"

"Not confident enough you can match me on even footing?"

"No, just don't want you to get bored, that's all! Gotta keep things excitin' for the audience, ya know?"

* * *

The fight was nearing its close. Satori watched, her heart filled with hope at the battle taking place above the sunflowers. She might be freed. She might get to escape. Marisa declared her last spellcard.

"Magicannon: Final Master Spark!" She held out her mini-hakkero, and energy began to thrum dangerously around her. Yuuka took this opportunity to declare -her- final spellcard.

"Master Sign: Slaver Spark!" a similar power gathered around Yuuka's parasol, now opened and pointed firmly at Marisa. Both of their minds were focused wholly on gathering as much energy as they could as quickly as possible. Satori couldn't judge who was pulling ahead.

Finally, as the very air around and between them started to crackle with bolts of lightning and magic, Marisa fired her blast, aimed directly at Yuuka, a slight downward angle. Yuuka's smile never vanished as Satori watched. The magic seemed to engulf Yuuka, the enormous blast of energy wrapping into a point on her position. Satori saw through Yuuka's mind as the blinding blast approached her.

Then Satori saw, through Yuuka's mind, the focal point of Marisa's attack. It was aimed at Yuuka, but Yuuka was basking in a comfortable glow, the halo surrounding her parasol as it drew the enormous attack onto its surface. Yuuka's smile took a more sinister grin as the magicannon kept being absorbed by her parasol. Satori finally realized just what was going on. She yelled at Marisa to stop, but the witch had no way of hearing her, and no way of seeing the result of her attack, so large and blinding was it.

After a solid fifteen seconds of the sustained, mighty beam of magic pummeling Yuuka's parasol, it finally stopped. As the last few beams were absorbed by the parasol, bent away from their intended path, Marisa finally realized just what had been going on.

"You didn't -really- think I wouldn't have countermeasures against cheap knockoffs of my own spells, did you? Tsk, I'm ashamed of you, Marisa." Yuuka's parasol was crackling with energy, distorting space around it, causing it to shimmer in the sunlight.

Marisa couldn't help but think…_ Wow. This is going to hurt._

"NOOOOOO!" Satori's despaired wail reached even the combatants high above. Yuuka merely smiled out of the corner of her mouth and unleashed her attack. The blast filled the entire sky, and even from the great distance, Marisa's pain was clear, burning for the five seconds Yuuka maintained the attack. Satori's cry was drowned out in the sound of the blast that wiped her hope away.

* * *

_**Soon, Amidst the Sunflowers**_

"I'm terribly sorry, child, but we'll need to put your education on hold for a bit. Don't worry, though. I'm sure you can learn things from Marisa dearest as I teach her!"

Marisa was now bound and gagged, just like Satori. She had come to just a short while ago, and after a few moments of looking around in confusion, looked over to Satori. _Sorry. Kinda thought I could take her, you know? _Marisa was in a shameful state herself, to be sure. Most of her clothes had been burned away in the blast, and her hair was badly burned as well, black splotches present in the golden mane. She had managed to erect enough of a barrier to prevent any serious damage to herself during the climax of the battle, but it was long worn away, now.

"Now, then, first I suppose I should teach you some basic decency. Exposing yourself like that is just uncivilized." vines snaked around Marisa's body, stretching her skin painfully as they did so, covering it almost entirely. Then Yuuka grinned.

"While I'm at it, I suppose my babies could use a bit of a drink…" Thorns erupted from the vine, and Marisa's mind was filled with agony. Satori couldn't hope to block it out in her current state, and both of them tried to scream in pain, though their screams came only as muffled moans. Large amounts of blood and tears fell from Marisa as the vines continued encircling her, cutting her viciously with their thorns.

Even so, when the pain momentarily subsided, Marisa was still resolved._ Your time will come, just you wait. _Then the vines crept once more and her mind exploded in pain again.

* * *

_**Early the Next Morning  
**_

A full night of torture later Marisa's mind was withdrawn. Her resolve was still there, but it was so quiet behind the wall of pain and sleep deprivation that she couldn't even struggle when Yuuka took the spiked, thorny club in hand once again. The torture Marisa had gone through over the past several hours had been as thorough as Satori's had been over the past few days. Yuuka didn't have years to break her as she did with Satori. The human would starve long before then.

"Yuuka! You will release them right now!" Alice's voice called out, echoing loudly over the field.

_Alice? She's here to save us… awesome. Awww, wait... I'm gonna owe her big for this... less awesome. _Marisa thought warmly. Satori wasn't quite so hopeful… like the plants surrounding her, she was silently, mentally begging Alice to go and save herself, at least. No one… nothing, could stand up to Yuuka.

_I can't believe Marisa ran right into this without thinking. I just hope Yuuka hasn't done anything too bad to her while I gathered information and set up. _Alice had a clear plan, but it depended heavily on Yuuka, an unknown, and that was making her nervous.

"A -third- visitor. Why, at this rate, I might even spread the garden onto the mountain proper! Do come down here, dear."

"I've got a better idea. We duel."

Yuuka rolled her eyes. "Let me guess, if you win, they go free?"

"Yes. And if you win, then my fate will be as theirs."

Yuuka readily agreed. "Waxing poetic, aren't you? But that was the plan, yes. Very well, I'll go with four spellcards again, I think. That was fun against Marisa."

_But not Satori? Or did she not even duel Satori… that would explain it. _Alice nodded "I'll use one. I'd hate to waste our valuable time." Satori cried. One absolutely wouldn't be enough… Yuuka had defeated Marisa's six.

Yuuka laughed uproariously, entertaining similar thoughts. "One! You've got to be kidding! Even Marisa used six! Oh, I don't know who you are, but at least you've gotten me in a good mood. Maybe I'll go easy on you for the first week or so."

_Satori, if you can hear me, know this. You had -better- win. Break Yuuka's mind, because I already know there's no way I can defeat Yuuka. But I -can- free you. I've bound our fates together with this duel. _Alice's mind was louder… no, it was just directed at Satori. Yuuka took the moment to declare a spellcard, and the brief, one sided battle commenced.

Alice declared her spellcard. _Never thought the name would apply to me._"Magic sign: Artful Sacrifice!"

Satori thought on Alice's wording of the duel. Yes… if Satori could defeat Yuuka and free herself from Yuuka's grasp, then Yuuka would lose her hold on the other two, thanks to the terms Alice had just declared. Of course, there would be lasting repercussions even if she did win. Considering the alternative, though, Satori didn't care. Anything to get out of here.

As they fought intensely, Some dolls carrying very sharp, small blades crept up to Marisa and Satori and began to cut them free with a great deal of effort, sawing through the vines that bound them to the sunflower stalks.

Satori and Marisa could hear explosions, and began to feel blasts of heat. _Hah! I've gotta get her to teach me how to make that stuff one day. Never managed to get it right, myself. _Satori heard much more than just Marisa's mind, though: A wave of hope and relief from the sunflowers that bolstered Satori's confidence and mood, rapidly restoring her from the pitiable shell she was a short while ago. Indeed, the plants hope and care for her reminded her comfortably of home and her pets.

All the while, Yuuka's mind and voice erupted in a shriek of rage, as she saw small fires starting in her precious garden. Yuuka activated her spellcard, and moved towards Alice. Alice didn't dodge, as she was much too distracted by launching her explosive dolls in such a way as to make it appear that Yuuka was the target, while actually targeting the garden itself, while not destroying the area around Satori, while still controlling the dolls sawing throughout he vines, now nearly finished, and all at a great distance… Yuuka grabbed Alice's throat, and dove into the ground, flowers erupting from the impact, Satori felt Alice's mind weaken slightly. She had lost the duel by taking that hit… but Yuuka? Yuuka wasn't done.

Yuuka lifted Alice up and rushed towards the nearest fire. She whipped Alice's struggling form against the flames, beating them with Alice until they were extinguished. _This is your own fault! _"Are you enjoying the fruits of your recklessness!" Yuuka cried out in rage as she went to the next flame and repeated the process.

Alice's mind was slipping. Still, the dolls furiously cut through the vines. Bolts of pain shot through Satori's mind, but between the hope of the flowers and the resolve and trust of the two magicians, the pain was easily ignored.

Finally, the last of the vines snapped, and Satori and Marisa fell to the ground.. Marisa, weak from the torture and her defeat, slumped over, barely conscious, putting blind faith in Alice and now Satori to get them out of this mess. Satori, however, landed gracefully and stood tall... her cuts no less plentiful, but their pain less oppressive, before flying up and out of the sunflowers, hovering just a few feet above them.

Alice had just finished 'helping' Yuuka extinguish the last of the flames, and Yuuka was returning to where she had left Marisa and Satori bound and gagged.

Yuuka arrived, carrying Alice's broken form. Yuuka saw Satori, and flung Alice to the ground, hard. Alice's thoughts were blurry and filled with pain, but their intent was clear.

_I hope I judged her right, because no one else will come..._Then the quiet of unconsciousness.

Satori had her four spellcards in hand. "I win, I go free and you help me defeat Makai's forces. I lose, and all three of us are yours."

Yuuka was livid, but cackled madly. "You! I broke your will in a matter of minutes! Your pathetic, weak, cowardly self… really thinks it can beat me! Fine! Terms accepted. Four spellcards! Again!" _After that, only the red-white would even dare challenge me, and no one's seen her for days! They'll all be mine. Then they can all share punishment for that witch's attack on my precious garden._

"Then I'll match your four. It's only proper, after all. But you've underestimated your opponent. You face not only my will, but the wills of all of your victims. I will deliver their justice for them, and feed on your fear!" Satori felt the multitude of flowers and Marisa's resolution bolstering her, hardly even noticing the chill winter wind and somehow appearing dignified despite her current state of dress.

"You'll know fear once more, I assure you, but -I- fear no other." Yuuka's eyes seemed to glint as she stared at Satori with fury, but her mind betrayed a glimpse of something else there. Something in those words was important, but Satori couldn't quite see it yet through the blinding rage.

"That's what they all say."

* * *

After a few initial bursts of danmaku, Yuuka declared her first spellcard. "Flower sign: Four Seasons Blooming!" Red bursts bloomed, forming themselves into flower patterns before collapsing, only to reappear elsewhere and repeat, colored yellow, then white, then green, before returning to red. Each time it returned to red, more and more such blooms appeared, until they covered the nearly the entire sky. Even so, Satori was focused enough to dodge the attack, though Yuuka herself didn't seem to know where it would be going. Then, the blooms stopped and Yuuka resumed her normal assault; Satori had cleared the first spellcard.

Yuuka was reluctant to use her second one, but Satori, easily reading Yuuka's dodging pattern, managed to trap her, forcing her to declare it or lose. Yuuka wasn't about to lose this early.

"Flower sign: Under the Canopy!" The sky turned black, the only thing left visible was Yuuka's customary flower emblem. As it spun, it was possible to see the danmaku within it, but they quickly vanished from view as they left its overlay. Satori was at an unfair advantage, however: Yuuka's sight was unimpeded, and she watched as Satori somehow managed to read every bullet's trajectory perfectly, easily clearing what should have been a very difficult spellcard. Yuuka was enraged, and as the regular spray of danmaku recommenced, she started changing up her dodging, avoiding Satori's attempts to hedge her in again. Yuuka's random, wild assault was intense enough that it managed to trap Satori, forcing her hand.

"Recollection: Terrifying Hypnotism!" The customary spirals started. She had already been dueling with Yuuka for over a minute, so the analysis was very productive. Unfortunately, It seemed Yuuka's boast had been justified. Satori was having great difficulty finding any cracks in her confidence. Wait… yes… As the spellcard cleared, Satori had managed to grasp the nature of Yuuka's insecurity. Breaching her confidence and exposing it would need to be done carefully, lest Yuuka easily realize what was coming and manage to brace herself against it.

Yuuka shouted over the sounds of their magical assaults "Was that the best you can do! Don't forget our appointment today! You still have to learn why people don't like having their -privacy- -violated-!" Yuuka was anticipating today's 'lesson'.

Satori hardly heard Yuuka's taunt. Earlier, it would have struck its mark, perhaps even returned her to a cowering wreck. But with the sunflowers mentally egging her on, desperate to see _someone escape_… to see _Yuuka lose_… And Marisa's mind, still holding on, refusing to give in, beyond words, but not hope… Satori resisted Yuuka's clumsy but potent emotional assault.

And the confidence Yuuka had gotten from fending off Satori's first attack resulted in her losing track of Satori's patterns, and becoming trapped once again. Yuuka once again had to declare a spellcard earlier than she wished.

"Eternal Life: Thousand Year History!" Brown danmaku flooded up between Yuuka and Satori, in the appearance of a tree. As they exited the top of the tree, they turned green and flew outward, hanging a moment before turning orange, yellow, and red, and falling in a chaotic, wild pattern, occasionally gusting to one side or another, sometimes even occasionally returning towards the upper 'branches', where other danmaku were going through the same color changing pattern.

Satori quickly learned that Yuuka had no idea how this attack would turn out; it was random. Fine, then, Satori would just have to dodge. And she tried, she really did. She even lasted through most of it, but the wild gusts were just too chaotic to predict, and Satori needed to use a spellcard of her own to escape.

"Recollection: Cage of Dreams!" Yuuka was surrounded by an enclosing circling ring, bullets spraying out of it. She stayed in the middle though, and though countless bullets erupted outward from the circle as it closed in, it didn't quite close all the way. It dispersed as it neared Yuuka, and another circle appeared, and Yuuka moved as swiftly as she could to get into it. The pattern repeated. Yuuka had cleared it with no difficulty, but Satori had no problem with that.

For she had sensed it from Yuuka's mind as well. Yuuka had immediately recognized the attack, though she couldn't tell where it was from. As the ring closed around her, she remained calm, knowing, somehow, that it would cease to close before it became a real threat. And sure enough, everywhere -except- where she was was sprayed with an impossible attack. She saw another circle closing, and rushed to its center. Hah! A trivial attack... this was supposed to be traumatic? Still, the pattern's familiarity made her nervous for some reason. Where had she seen it before?

Satori launched immediately into her third spellcard.

"Recollection: Master Spark!" Though Satori lacked Marisa's magical Hakkero or Yuuka's parasol, she had no difficulty gathering the energy using her third eye. The air rippled and distorted around her, and she fired off the blast towards Yuuka, whose confidence was brimming as she moved her parasol and opened it to block the blast._ She even saw what happened when Marisa tried this! -And- __she's weaker! What a fool! _Satori couldn't entirely disagree. If this went badly…

Yuuka saw the last bit off magical energy absorbed into her parasol after a mere five seconds. She had lost sight of Satori, but knew that the master spark greatly inhibited movement during and after its performance… Yuuka decided this would be a fine time for her final spellcard.

"Master sign: Slaver Spark!" Yuuka declared, her confidence in her victory complete.

Satori hoped, prayed, and pleaded with fate that this worked, as she declared her final spellcard.

"Recollection: Dual Spark!" Yuuka launched her attack where Satori had been, unable to hear the declaration over the sound of her spark. She was encountering some resistance, presumably from Satori's assault, but the resistance was laughably weak. She laughed as the wave nearly reached the other source. "What a fool! You're mine! No one can defeat the almighty Yuuka Kazami!" She shouted in exultation.

Then she felt a presence off to her side. She turned slowly towards it, an unknown feeling wrapping itself around her heart, realizing she was wide open.

And just before a smaller master spark blasted her to the ground, she recognized the feeling, looking into the face of her assailant. The face of fear.

The face of Yuuka Kazami.

* * *

Satori tore her mind away from Yuuka's quivering one. _No… no… I'm me… not you…_The sudden shock had completely caught her off guard, but Satori wasn't taking any chances. She had won the duel. Yuuka was now bound by contract to help her. That didn't mean Satori wanted to wait around to let her retry, or to finish off Marisa and Alice.

Satori rushed as quickly as she could to the two magicians.

"Come on, you two, we need to get out of here." She used some magic to lift the two witches, draping a pair of her cloaks over them to keep them warm. Both were conscious, Alice recently having reawakened, but both were only barely so, still too disoriented to form proper thoughts.

Satori flew away as fast as she could, leaving the Garden of the Sun, marked with black spots from Alice's flames, behind. Yuuka's broken mind stayed behind, trying to rebuild some sense of identity. Satori realized she would, eventually, and didn't want to be anywhere nearby when she did. She could hear the flowers cheering for Satori as she flew away. Satori felt her existence justified for the first time in a long while... for the first time, she felt good about winning a fight.

* * *

_**Later that Morning, at Alice's House  
**_

Satori landed outside Alice's house, somewhat exhausted from magically carrying Marisa and Alice, and she dropped them unceremoniously outside the door.

"Reisen? Are you in there?"

"Yes, here, I'm coming. Just let me get everyone into a side room, first." Satori felt the throbbing headache from her previous stay returning. She did her best to block it out, and it became a mere pulse; annoying, but not painful.

A few minutes later, Reisen opened the door and noticed the three women outside. _They're alive. Thank the moon, they're alive…_"Come, bring them inside." Reisen was tearing up, her relief at seeing them evident.

As Satori lifted their bodies in and placed them on the cots Reisen had set up (dusting off the snow, first), Reisen continued.

"When I heard you all went after Yuuka… I… I stayed behind…" _I should have helped them… but then… then Tewi, Master, and Princess would all be defenseless… _Reisen was as torn now as she was before.

"What's important is that you're here, now, and have the training to keep Marisa alive." Satori comforted Reisen, who was already washing out Marisa's worst cuts. _Perhaps she's right. "I suppose I need to focus on treating them, first."_

Satori left her to get started while she changed into a spare set of clothes. Finished, and feeling somewhat dignified again, she returned to aid the treatment of her saviors, despite her own wounds continuing to ache. She had tried healing them, but they had proved stubborn.

_Alright, after this, I just need to suture up these wounds, then I can get to Alice…_Reisen turned to get the stitches and needle and found Satori handing them off to her. "Thank you."

Satori helped Reisen treat Marisa and Alice's wounds, a painstaking labor of several hours. For her part, Reisen was thankful; Satori's ability to read minds and her skill with magic gave Reisen an extra six arms to work it, it seemed. Alice had needed some serious treatment… she had a few dozen broken bones, and terrible internal bruising. Alice may have been able to recover on her own, but given the strain she had been through at Eientei earlier, they decided not to risk it, and treated her much like a human.

* * *

_**Noon, at Alice's House  
**_

"Five patients." Satori commented. "You've got your hands full, it seems."

"Yes. Thankfully, they're all stable… thanks to you, of course. Marisa will need the most attention. She'll still need to be fed and the like, but the others are alright for now." _Why would anyone go after Yuuka, though?_

"I find myself asking that same question now. Ignorance, of course, is the only answer I can find. Now then, it seems you yet need my help"

"Yeah…" _We found Eirin, and she said she would, so…_

"Yes, I'll go into her mind. I'm in a surprisingly good mood, considering what I've been through lately. I suppose the rush of beating Yuuka still hasn't quite worn off. I'll wait outside while you bring her into a side room, and get ready."

Reisen nodded and rushed to move around her patients. After a few minutes, she let Satori back in, and they stood at the door to Eirin's temporary room.

"When I'm ready, open the door. If I lose consciousness, or wave my arm, close the door immediately."

"Okay." _I owe her for this… I just hope my help pays her back enough like she said._

Satori spent several minutes fortifying her mind. She used some tricks she had learned from watching Reisen to set up a path to divert the flow. She knew what to expect now, but that wouldn't make it easy. Layer after layer of mental barrier, sensors, failsafes, channels to guide certain thoughts away. After about a half hour, Satori's mind sat secure in the middle of her mental fortress, peering out through carefully designed chutes, barely able to hear Reisen's thoughts of worry and doubt, focused instead towards the inside of the room. She set herself, already starting to say thoughts as she was receiving them.

"I'm ready."

* * *

_**The Doctor's Mind**_

The door opened, and immediately Satori's mind was bombarded with pain. The assault crumbled the first wall almost immediately, but the pressure had still been dissipated smoothly by its destruction, giving Satori a few precious fractions of a second.

Thoughts of tortures, many of which even the demons of Makai would balk at, were launched her way. As the second barrier was washed away under the waves of insidious torment, Satori saw the source, and hurried towards it, even as everything in her mind screamed it was a bad idea. She had no time for hesitation. She burst through the wall of pain, and entered another area; an enormous void. Behind her, there was nothing, ahead of her, nothing, above and below her; nothing. She lost the grip on her next barrier, and listened. She heard something, though, and followed it, though it lie in no direction at all. She felt herself envelop the void, and saw within it a woman, undergoing many of the same torments she had viewed on her way in. Her second to last barrier fell at the purest sense of… -wrong-… Satori had ever felt… far from being physical or mental pain, it seemed to assault the very soul of the woman. Her nature, her essence was warped and twisted into horrible mockery of… it was difficult to tell, but yes, she was once a human.

The source of the anguish, though, was another woman, watching nearby from a cage, shouting wordlessly at the one floating in the void, tears in her eyes, helpless to assist her closest friend who seemed oblivious to her presence, despite the drifter's desperate seeking.

Satori moved as close as she could to the caged woman, using her mental barrier to wedge open the cage as she entered. And she touched the naked mind of the woman, who despite everything going on, despite her obvious anguish and torment that reached her very soul, was dutifully chanting something, as though it were her last thread of hope, the last strand of happiness in her life, the last chance that maybe, the torment would end... a mantra against the madness.

_Dragon's-breath-ale 9, patchouli 18, wormwood 23, Kouchoumugan-P 12, Kouchoumugan-N 12, Quicksilver 3, troll sweat 7, lunar dust 2, divine extract 5, usutari jelly 13…_ The list and numbers continued, followed by some directions she didn't understand. _Distill and apply distillate to residue of equal quantity by mass…_ This continued for a while, before finally ending with _Consume equal parts among mediator, victim, doctor. _Satori's mind was straining at keeping the barrier up… After she established that the list repeated, she focused as hard as she could to signal her body to Reisen… she just… had to move her arm… But it was so far away, and she knew there was no way she could make it back through that torment once again without external preparation.

Satori fell back suddenly, her head swimming, the door in front of her once again closed.

* * *

_**Alice's House**_

"I… wasn't sure if you moved or not. But… I… I think you did?" _I hope I didn't pull her out too soon… but she just started repeating the list over again…_

"Yeah… I mean, I don't know. I'm fine. Just… a bit disoriented. Your master's still alive in there, but… what was she saying? What was I saying? What was that list?" Satori was still reeling, but the dizziness would pass.

"It was a list of components and reagents… it seems like a recipe for something… I've been looking through her journal, and she organizes her medication preparations similarly. The numbers are the relative amounts to add… the names are her names for various things…" Satori was too busy trying to get her mental feet back under her to think too hard about it, so she asked.

"Dragon's-breath ale? It sounds like it might be hard to obtain. Do dragon's even exist? There were a number of ones I didn't even recognize."

"Oh, that one is just one of her names for Capsaicin. We've got plenty of that" _I still say making me drink so much of it was uncalled for. Perhaps I deserved it for being so gullible though._

"Well… do you… have what you need, though?"

Reisen nodded. "Though that last bit worries me. Why would the doctor, patient, and a third person all need to drink it at once? It uses some mystic drugs like the butterfly dream pill, so I'm not sure what effect it will have… I'll go ahead and prepare it, but it will take a lot of time. Some of those processes need to be run over several days." _I should be able to do it by myself, but it would be nice to have an assistant. I suppose this is why master took me on…_

"Alright. If you can manage it on your own, then I still have business elsewhere. I need to speak with Patchouli and Byakuren…" Satori let out a sigh. "And Marisa, once she's well enough to talk. I'm counting on you, Reisen."

Reisen nodded. "She should be fine. Come back within a few days. You can speak with her then. Hopefully I'll also have the remedy finished by then."

"So, where can I find Patchouli, then?"

"Oh, she's in the Scarlet Devil Mansion. The whole place is usually active at night, so you should probably go now. It's on the border of the misty lake. It's the one that -isn't- in ruins, though you may wish to speak with the inhabitants of the ruined one if you get a chance. They're an interesting sort. Probably not related to the current problem, though." _Really good music, though…_Reisen's mood destabilized a bit as she thought about it, but she was clearly enjoying the reminiscence... it seemed unusually strong in her heart.

"My thanks, then. I'll see you in a few days." Satori flew off after donning a spare cloak, though thoughts of what lie ahead weighed her down. All this, and she had still only spoken with one of the magicians? She hoped her pets were managing better than she was. Fond thoughts of home carried her onward towards the Scarlet Devil Mansion.


	5. Chapter 5

_**At the Royal capital, within the Lunar Capital**_

Yorihime, the younger of the Watatsuki sisters, looked up from her book. "I've got it!"

She had been studying very obscure gods, trying to find one that might give them an edge against the horde of demons that seemed endless. Everything else she had tried had failed, but this… this just might work.

Her elder sister, Toyohime, looked at her with weary eyes. Ever since the demons had somehow gotten to the moon, she and her sister had been doing their best to drive them back, and Toyohime wasn't coping well with the war. The enemy casualties were well over a billion at this point, but they never seemed to decrease in number. The war had started poorly to begin with. The element of surprise had allowed the demons to take nearly half the capital before any sort of defense could be mustered. Since then the Lunarians had been surrendering ground slowly, but inevitably. They had sent Reisen to seek Eirin for advice, but she had needed to use a lunar veil in order to get away without being noticed. Toyohime doubted she'd return in time to make a difference.

Toyohime still couldn't believe it. A few days ago, they had held only half the capital. Now, they held only the palace. They were still killing demons by the thousands, but if nothing changed, soon the last remnants of the Lunar Civilization that had thrived for unthinkable eons would be wiped out. But now, she felt a small glimmer of hope.

"What is it? Did you find something that might help?"

Yorihime nodded. "Come here, look!" Toyohime ambled over to her sister's side, not convinced. In the book was a picture of a surprisingly obscure goddess, considering what she lorded over. The moon had little need for magic, itself, typically relying on incredibly advanced technology instead, but to think they had overlooked the most obvious goddess…

Shinki, the Goddess of Makai. "If we summon her, we can have her call off the attack, maybe even seal the gate back… even banish all the demons already here." Yorihime explained.

Toyohime was having some doubts, though. "That… could work. I'm just… maybe a little worried about calling her…?"

"I understand your worry, but it's groundless. You know as well as I do that the name and title is enough for me to bind gods to my will. We'll get her to clear this up, then we can focus on rebuilding the capital." Yorihime grabbed her sword, ready to begin the ritual.

"I suppose we don't really have any other choice, do we? It's only a matter of time before they take the palace as things are." Toyohime grimaced at the thought of those demons running through these sacred halls, tapping the fan against her chin. She had yet to actually employ it, knowing that once its power was unleashed, there wouldn't be much a lunar civilization left to save. Still it had been looking more likely that she would need to use it, despite its enormous potential for collateral damage. With her sister's plan, perhaps that wouldn't be necessary.

Yorihime started the ritual, brief though it was. Thousands of years of experience had honed her skill to the point where she could perform what would normally be a day long summoning and binding within a few seconds. Even so, she took the extra time and performed it over a full minute, paying careful attention the every detail.

"Shinki, Goddess of Makai! I summon you and bind you to my service!"

They had rather underestimated the Goddess' size; as she appeared out of a gate from the ground, her head reached the ceiling. She stood well over nine feet, and once she had fully exited the gate, spread her enormous black and red leathery wings, shredding the nearby walls as they did so. She wore her silver hair in a side ponytail, and the red cloth that covered her imposing form was unlike anything the Lunarians had even seen. Shinki spoke in a tremendous, feminine, booming voice.

"Why have you summoned me?"

"You are to destroy the demons here, close the gate to Makai, and leave, on your name as Shinki, Goddess of Makai!" Yorihime commanded. Shinki suddenly relaxed.

"Oh, so close, too." Shinki said, her presence no less impressive than before, indeed, perhaps more so. Toyohime looked confused, but Yorihime was quivering…

"Oh no…" Yorihime was already beginning a sending ritual. Just a few seconds and…

But she didn't have a few seconds. Shinki grabbed her by the throat in one hand, stopping Yorihime's speech. With her other hand, Shinki grabbed the blade of Yorihime's sword, and shattered it by merely closing her hand. Shards flew into Shinki's own face, but she didn't even flinch, though Yorihime and Toyohime did when they were slashed by stray bits of the rare alloy and razor thin edges it had been shaped into.

"Oh look, she figured it out! I am indeed "The Goddess of Makai," but it seems you forgot my other titles. And if you think I'm going to tell you what they are, you're sorely mistaken. I haven't worked to keep them secret for millennia just to hand them out." Shinki said, casually raking her clawed fingers gently over Yorihime's arms, which were currently trying to continue the banishment. Yorihime's arms split open with the slightest touch, and Yorihime's eyes went wide with pain as her arms fell limp. With her arms ruined, there would be no way she could complete the ritual to banish Shinki. She gazed at Toyohime, and clearly mouthed words, knowing they'd be her last.

"Do it."

Toyohime steadied herself, then held the fan out at arm's length and spun once in a full rotation. A enormous gust of wind slashed around the room, the already fractured walls beginning to rupture and break away, the furniture in the room pressing against them. Shinki held her ground with no effort at all, however. She did turn and look at Toyohime though. Somehow, her voice was powerful enough to carry through the gale.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Toyohime spun again, this time in the opposite direction, and another, terrifyingly powerful wind was launched. Now the walls were broken away, exposing the nearby rooms. A pair of lunar rabbits looked towards the source of the wind, even as they were pinned against the far wall, their skin stretched taut by the force of the wind. Shinki was now struggling against the wind, but was still able to make ground against Toyohime, even while still holding her flailing younger sister.

Toyohime shed a tear… "Please, forgive me…"

Then she spun entirely around a third time. The wind that lashed forth now was apocalyptic. Mere walls, even those of Lunarian make, stood no chance against its might, and the clear lunar sky became visible. Anything the wind touched was blasted away. It swept across the surface of the moon, wiping out everything it touched. Shinki, the mighty goddess of Makai, lasted exactly as long as Yorihime, one of the mightiest soldiers the moon had ever known. They both lasted just as long in the face of the wind as the countless hordes of demon armies... just as long as the priceless treasures held in the capital…as long as the few lunar rabbits that had survived this long. Just as long as the eons old Lunar civilization's constructions. Its countless artifacts, advancements… its ancient history, its peerless technology, wiped out in a wind that made everything before it equal in nothingness. A wind that swept all identity from that which it touched, reducing them to mere atoms. A purifying wind that should never have blown.

Toyohime held the fan, remnant of the once mighty Lunar civilization, and looked out over the blasted landscape through teary eyes. She had just watched her sister shredded to atoms… worse, she had done it herself. She kept telling herself there had been no other option… that she had done what she needed to… but it didn't change the fact that she had just murdered not only her sister, but an entire civilization.

The moon was pure once again, save for a single murderer.

"Oh, don't be so depressed. That's a very impressive instrument you have there."

Toyohime looked towards the source of the voice, dread filling her heart…

"No… you can't have survived!"

"Who says I survived it? Turns out having control over your own soul has some fun perks. Made a new body… Ah, but you're wondering how I'm here, I bet."

Toyohime backed away in disbelief, staring at the Shinki, even more imposing now that her full forty foot wingspans were visible.

"I'll be honest, I didn't expect your little toy to destroy the gate. But it seems I was able to keep my soul here. Of course, reopening the gate will take time, but I don't think that's something you'll have to worry about."

Toyohime looked around for something, anything else to try using… and was only reminded of the devastation she had caused… devastation that was nothing more than a child's temper tantrum in the eyes of the Goddess of Makai.

"Now, I think I'll be taking that." Shinki said, moving closer. "The pain it delivers is simply exquisite. As though a thousand years of torment befell me, suffering beyond your wildest imagination as every part of me was torn apart in mere moments. It was very inspiring. Truly, my children would most enjoy your little fan."

Toyohime was stunned. It was that painful? But that meant… what she had done to her sister… to everyone who had survived...

Shinki kept approaching. "Now, hand it over before you hurt yourself. Children shouldn't have such toys." She was nearly in arms reach of Toyohime.

Toyohime cried, clutched the fan to her chest, and as a tear rolled off her cheek, she used her last resort, taught to her long ago by a beloved pet.

She fled to the earth.

* * *

_**Outside the Scarlet Devil Mansion, near the Misty Lake**_

Satori couldn't miss the mansion. It seemed terribly out of place here on the surface, but its design reminded her comfortably of home. She approached the gate, and sensed… something approaching? What an odd sensation... it was as though she was seeing with a sense she never knew she had.

Upon further reflection, she realized she was sensing herself approaching, from the mind of a red-haired gate guard, wearing a green Chinese dress and a green beret. A dutiful mind, and one seeking self-improvement.

The guard seemed to be asleep, but Satori knew better… it seemed the guard was in more of a focused meditation. She was poised to take action, yet resting at the same time. Furthermore, though her eyes were closed, Satori could still sense her own presence through the mind of the guard. It wasn't entirely unlike her own ability, or the ability of that fairy she had met earlier. Satori spoke.

"Interesting ability you have there." The guard's eyes opened.

_Huh? Who are you? Probably just another weak youkai looking to get into the mansion. _Satori could sense her energy being analyzed, then dismissed. "Yep. Small fry." Satori was annoyed, but did her best not to let it show. Even so, the guard's perception of her aura seemed to indicate some change, and the guard immediately responded.

"No offense intended, of course."

"I get it a lot, really. I'm Satori Komeiji. I need to speak with Patchouli. Yes, I can read your mind. No, I don't intend to cause trouble. And I'll let you speak when you have something worth saying." Satori replied to the guard's familiar line of thoughts before they even finished. Satori held up her ring, marking her as being on business for the Yama. She could sense the guard examine it.

_Well, it's from -someone- powerful alright._It glowed with a surprising amount of energy in the guard's mind. Satori wasn't sure why she herself couldn't sense it.

"Yes. I'm here working for the Yama. Now let me through. I've had a difficult week."

_I need to check that it's alright._"I can't leave my post. If you have an appointment someone should be with you shortly."

"Nevermind that someone might need to come by without an appointment?" Satori saw images of the guard being beaten in spellcard duels many, many times by Marisa and winced. "I'd really rather not fight. Is there no messenger to request entry?"

_Not… really._"No… I mean, there are fairies around, but they're pretty… well, useless for anything… I've tried using them as messengers before, but they always forget partway."

"Let me try." Satori said, having been looking for a fairy since the guard had begun her thought.

The guard clearly didn't care what happened to the fairies. "Hey, you, over here." She gestured to a nearby fairy, dressed as a maid.

"Whatsit, Hong?" the fairy said lazily. It was currently entertaining amusing thoughts about how fast it would have to flap its arms to fly without its wings. Satori interrupted its thoughts by creating a hypnotic pattern. Animals may be easy to hypnotize, but fairies were a complete joke; it was entranced by the light before she even started moving it. Satori noticed through the guard's Qi perception that the fairy's normally wild aura had calmed substantially.

"I need you to deliver a message. Tell Patchouli that Satori Komeiji is here on orders of the Yama and needs to speak with her and to send someone out to let me past the guard." Satori said, before releasing the hypnosis. The fairy happily strolled in through the front doors, intent on its new task.

Hong was dubious. _If that fairy actually gets someone to come out here, I'll eat my hat._

"I'll take that bet." Satori said, causing a look of alarm on Hong's face.

_Oh no, no way._"I didn't mean it! I didn't even say it! It doesn't count!" Hong desperately fumbled.

Satori chuckled. "Don't worry. I wouldn't -make- you eat your hat. You may want to watch what you think though. Thoughts have this tendency to become words without people realizing it, I've noticed." Hong's worry melted into relief, but she still seemed doubtful of the fairy's return.

_I wonder why such a weak youkai was chosen by the Yama.._

"I said I didn't want to fight, but you seem intent on provoking me."

"I didn't say anything!" _Now I hope the fairy -does- come back. If I attack her without being provoked, I'll get scolded again, but it seems the little brat doesn't plan on leaving anytime soon. And I can't leave my post…_Hong sighed.

"Yes, oh my, what a hard life, standing around all day waiting for something to happen. Lately, I've begun to miss such a life, myself."

_Great, now she's talking down to me. I could crush her in a moment, and she…_

"Hey, how about a new topic! I'm getting tired of the hate one. So how about your sight? It seems handy. How do you do it?"

_-She-'s getting tired of it? Did she ever think that maybe I'm getting tired of having my mind read?_" It's a result of training."

"You know I'm not going to stop, so let's just move on. It seems you can sense emotions? How does that work?"

"I just watch their Qi and practice sorts the rest out." Hong explained dismissively, but as she did so, a far more complicated procedure was going through her head… aligning her chakras through rigorous mental and physical exercise, mastering her physical body to the extent that she could control even autonomous functions like her heartbeat. Then using slight alterations in her own Qi, detecting how it altered nearby Qi fields, and using it as a sort of radar.

It seemed the Qi she was thinking of was similar to magical power, but… not quite the same. It was an analogous concept, but tied to her body rather than her magic. Satori found it very interesting.

"Wow… I almost -do- want to fight you now, just to see what your control over it can do."

_Please, give me an excuse. Please, please, please let me punch you in the face. Please, please, please…_Given the mental images of barehanded maneuvers going through Hong's mind, and her confidence in carrying them through, Satori decided she rather liked her head in one piece and attached to her neck, and reiterated an important word.

"-Almost-. Really, though, your path of self-mastery is admirable. I'd like to learn more from you later if time permits. Using Qi and magic in conjunction could result in some amazingly efficient and powerful techniques."

_Mistress help me, now she's talking like Patchouli. Where is that blasted fairy? I'll beat her next time I see her if she isn't here in the next few minutes._

"Ah, I suppose I've spent too much time around magicians, lately. Perhaps it's rubbed off on me."

_Shut up. Really. I can't believe I'm so starved for conversation and still just want her to... shut... up. _Hong sighed. "I realize you're trying to make small talk, but can you just shut up for two minutes?"

"Oh, so I should just sit here and listen to you moan about how much you want to punch me in the face, then? I'd really -much- rather hear other things. Perhaps if you would shut up, then I would."

"Then stop reading my mind!"

Satori sighed, giving up on the conversation. The guard had seemed mellow enough when they'd met. Well, Satori didn't care enough to make amends if the guard didn't.

A few minutes of tense one way silence (_Just go away… the fairy isn't coming back…. Why are you still here? I wonder if the mistress would be upset if I got this runt's blood on the gates... No, she'd probably like it..._), A woman around twenty or so, though with silver hair that suggested a much older age, and a heart that suggested a lengthy life, strode out wearing a maid's uniform.

"It appears there is a Satori Komeiji here to meet with miss Patchouli?"

"That's me, yes."

_I don't know how she got that fairy to keep that long of a message in its head for more than a second, but I'd certainly like to learn. Maybe then they'd do some -work-. _I am Sakuya. I'll be your guide while you are within the mansion." Sakuya's mind seemed to have an odd perspective, but Satori couldn't quite place it. It seemed incongruous with her youthful appearance.

"Unfortunately, it's not quite so easy. Perhaps with training similar to the gate guard's, but it would be rather difficult"

"A shame, then. This way, please." Sakuya gestured and started off, Satori following close behind.

_-I- could do that? Hells, that'd be useful. _Hong thought to herself.

"Of course." Satori said, speaking over her shoulder to the gate guard. "Go ahead and work on it. Try stabilizing their auras or something. Seems that might work."

_Well, a strong mind needs a strong body… maybe if I… _Hong thought to herself as the door to the mansion slammed shut.

* * *

_**Within the Scarlet Devil Mansion**_

Satori looked around. And she saw red. -Everywhere-. Sakuya had taken Satori's cloak politely, and hung it near the entrance before continuing.

"This place seems to have some… interesting aesthetics" Satori said lightly.

"It is how the mistress prefers things." Sakuya replied calmly. Her heart was clearly entirely set on pleasing her mistress, a vampire. Satori wondered how the vampire had gotten such a fanatically loyal servant, but it seemed Sakuya herself didn't know why she was so loyal... indeed, she didn't seem to have any other purpose or goal in her heart. It was rather unnerving to see a human so devoted. Sakuya's mind seemed to be running extremely quickly, and Satori sensed a familiar power from her.

"You're distorting space, aren't you?" Satori inquired. Sakuya quietly nodded. _How did she know…?_

"I've encountered a similar ability recently." she explained to Sakuya. _That Shinigami, I'll bet._

"Yes, with the red hair. Very imposing, large…?" Satori felt Sakuya's mind flare with jealousy, but her face showed not even a little. Satori couldn't help but smile at the reaction, but she clarified.

"That's not what I meant. She's very tall and muscled." Satori said, and Sakuya sighed. _Even with Patchouli's warning, she still got to me. She fights -dirty-._Sakuya seemed somewhat disappointed in herself.

"Well, it seems this walk will take a while, so mind explaining how you do it?"

Sakuya stopped at a door. "No need. here is the library. Lady Patchouli is inside. I have other duties to take care of. When you need to leave, inform lady Patchouli and she will contact me." A large… far too large, actually, list of tasks went through Sakuya's head, and Satori felt her focus on… something, and Sakuya's mind rapidly sped up, then was gone along with her body.

"Interesting. I'll have to ask about that." Satori opened the door and started to walk into a library that shamed her own.

* * *

_**Within the Great Library**_

As soon as Satori stepped within, she felt a burst of magic erupt towards her. She brought up a magic wall and managed to deflect it, but just barely. She didn't notice the blast of flame that rushed at her, however, and it stuck hard, setting her ablaze. A strong wind buffeted her, strengthening the flames and preventing her from flying away. She flailed futilely at the flames, foolishly fanning them further. 'Fortunately', a glob of water enveloped her, soaking her from head to foot and slamming her against the door. She struggled to break out of the bubble when she saw some metal blades flying towards it, and she focused instead on not getting shredded to ribbons.

As the blades pinned her sleeves and skirt to the wall, the water bubble emptied out through their entry point, and Satori was left looking quite undignified and disheveled. She coughed, out of breath from the ordeal, and looked around once again.

_Eh, 5 catness. If -Satori- survived it, Marisa wouldn't have any difficulty at all. _A very disappointed mind considered as it floated towards Satori. It was a complex mind, slow to move, but bearing tremendous weight and knowledge behind it, despite its relative youth.

Satori turned towards the mind, and saw it belonged to a purple-haired woman in a purple robe with white vertical stripes.

"You were trying to kill me!"

She walked up to Satori and considered her for a moment. _Perhaps I should simply do without the water. hmm, but it does prevent the fire from burning all the clothes away, which is what allows the metal to-_

"Let me go. I've had enough of this." Satori demanded. She was getting some unpleasant flashbacks to a recent similar situation... her cuts still hadn't healed.

"Hmmm…. nope." Patchouli laughed, but it quickly turned into a cough, before she continued. "So what brings the most abominable youkai to the surface, anyway?" _I've got an unpleasant idea…_Patchouli's mind showed hordes of what appeared to be succubi swarming all over Gensokyo.

"Something like that." Satori said. Patchouli was doubtful… _Right, and next it'll be the gate guard doing her duty._

"Look… wait, the gate guard? She -was- doing her duty. I only got in because I'm working for the Yama."

Patchouli remained doubtful, until she saw the ring. _How in the name of all that's holy did she get that?_

"It was given to me. By the Yama. Because I'm working for her. This isn't hard to understand."

_Uh oh… if she's working for the Yama, then that means... I've just attacked the bureaucracy..._

"Right. -Now- will you let me down?" Satori asked again, growing more impatient. _Maybe if I kill her, no one will know. Wait, that won't work. They'd find out when they judged her! Maybe if I-_

Just then the door slammed wide open, crashing into the walls.

"Heya Patchy!" _Heard she's got a guest! Wonder where she is. _A girl in a pink dress stood somewhat majestically in the doorway.

Satori moaned as the door recoiled off the wall, poor Satori still attached.

"Move, Remi!" _The trap's made to reset… _

Remilia moved… into the room. She neatly dodged the blast of magic, which slammed into the hallway beyond. The blast of flame did likewise, starting a small fire. Winds whipped up, slamming the door shut, and Remilia watched, safely beyond the targeted area already, as the rest of the trap targeted poor Satori, covering her with a glob of water. Satori squirmed to avoid getting slashed, and managed to avoid any serious injury, suffering only a nick on her leg and some more tears on her clothes, though she was now pinned in an even more awkward position. She gasped for air…

"What are you doing up there?" _How much do you have to fail to be to get caught by a silly trap like that? _"This your guest, Patchy?" Remilia asked, turning to Patchouli.

"Would you mind getting her down? There was a slight misunderstanding." _Oh, I hope she's not angry._

"Why? Why would I be angry, Patchouli! You only tried to kill me -twice-, before you even knew why I was here!"

_Ah, she's -not- here to talk about Makai then? That's a relief._

"No, that's not what I meant. I do need to speak with you about Makai." Remi removed the knives pinning Satori to the wall. _Wow, what did this girl to to get Patchy mad?_

Patchouli apologized. "Sorry, but I wanted to test that trap out. I've got to get the triggers and timing down." _Also, confirmed that satori cannot predict traps. Also, Satori is rather slow, and magically weak, though skilled._Patchouli added to her large list of mental notes, poorly organized as they were.

Satori leveled her gaze at Patchouli. "I don't appreciate you appraising me as though you were a youkai hunter."

_And a coward. _Patchouli added as a last note as she finished approaching Satori, who was now becoming rather irritated.

"Just because I don't want to fight doesn't mean I'm a coward."

"So why are you here? Something about Makai?" Remilia asked innocently. _The source of magic, wasn't it?_

Satori relaxed slightly, though she moved away from the door as soon as Patchouli dismissed the knives pinning her to it. "Yes. It seems their forces are rather active lately."

_That explains Maatri'as'a's odd behavior…_Patchouli's thoughts strayed to a face, whose most notable features were two bat wings sprouting from her scarlet-haired head.

"Who is that?" Satori pointedly asked Patchouli.

Patchouli looked around. "Who is who?" _Did she show up?_

"Whoever you're thinking of... Kind of a tough name to pronounce... 'Ma-'" Satori started, but Patchouli had moved up to her and now cupped a hand over her mouth. _Don't say it! And don't you -dare- tell anyone else her true name._

Satori raised an eyebrow... Apparently, demon truename binding was still being practiced. Remilia hadn't even seemed to catch on to the one syllable, but she seemed to be aware of nature of Patchouli's relationship with Maatri'as'a. Patchouli explained:

"Koakuma, you mean? That would be a creature I summoned a while ago. From Makai. She's been acting… well, odd, lately." The face from before, now attached to a body with demonic wings spread wide, was simply sitting there. She was prodded a few times with a book, but nothing happened.

"How long has she been like this?" Satori asked.

"About a week or two. She still seems bound to me, but she's resisting my commands." _And now I don't have anyone to clean my library anymore. It's getting very messy around here._ Satori noticed that there were a great many books that were lying on the floor near a table.

"It may be related to the current events. I need to speak with her."

"Sure, she's just this way." _Yeah, right. She hasn't said a word for over a week._ Patchouli though as they started walking. Remilia followed along. _I wonder if Patchy is done with that manga yet._

"She doesn't need to." Satori's words grated on Patchouli... _Does she need to comment on __-everything- I'm thinking?_

"I've wondered that myself. I think I might, yes. Just as you subsist on magic. It's only a theory really, but I don't see any compelling reason to stop."

_She's not even sorry... Great. I -really- hope she doesn't tell anyone Maatri'as'a's name. I really don't need a demon wreaking havoc in my library._

"You needn't worry about that. I understand the importance of -that- secret at least. Because, you see, the demons of Makai are currently undergoing an invasion of the moon"

Patchouli kept floating along. "Don't be ridiculous. They're creatures of chaos and destruction. If they were to 'invade' somewhere, it would be a few unorganized groups. Hardly a real invasion." _No wonder she came to me to learn about Makai. It seems she knows nothing. Besides, they're all sealed away anyway. Getting this one out was far from easy._

"You may be right, but they are certainly far more active lately. Anything else to tell me?"

"Well, there are a great deal of demon types, but explaining each of them would be bothersome. I'll just lend you some books detailing them, on the condition that you'll take any reasonable measures to return them to me within two years or when I ask for it back, whichever comes first." _Of course, if Marisa already stole them... _ Patchouli was clearly only offering because she was trying to get in the Yama's good books. Satori was a bit sickened at the blatant karma grab, but couldn't turn down the offer.

"Very well. I myself would be upset if someone failed to return a book I lent them."

_Yeah, as though anyone would ask for a book from -her-._ Patchouli found the idea ridiculous.

Satori gave up on conversation once again and simply listened. At least Patchouli had only a mild disdain and distrust, rather than outright anger or hatred towards Satori. Furthermore, Patchouli seemed to be more interested in reworking the trap at the entrance to the library, clearly intending to use it on Marisa. She absentmindedly grabbed relevant books from the shelf as they walked and handed them to Satori who packed them away with her spare clothes.

Meanwhile, sensing the lull in the conversation, Remilia took the opportunity to speak. Until now, she had been quietly wondering what would happen next in the manga she had been thinking about.

"So why are you here, anyway? You could have spoken with Alice or Marisa instead, right?" _She must have come here so she could have the opportunity to meet the great Scarlet Devil._

"I already did, in fact. Well, I haven't spoken with Marisa much, but I'll do so soon. Why would I have come here to meet you when I didn't even know you lived here?" Satori explained, to Remilia's disbelieving ears.

"How could you not have heard of the amazing Remilia Scarlet? I can alter the very fate of Gensokyo itself!" Satori was stunned. Remilia honestly believed what she was saying. Patchouli's offhand thought reassured Satori, though: _Oh hell... She's going on about her 'fate manipulation' again. No one's buying it._

Satori replied. "I'm... not completely convinced." Remilia stood tall and proud for a moment... which still left her substantially shorter than Satori (short though she was)... When she realized this method of appearing imposing wasn't working as well as she'd hoped, she changed tactics.

"Look, Patchy believes me. She even made me some special tarot cards to help me train my sight so I can see what I'm doing!" Remilia pulled out some cards... they seemed similar to spellcards, and her self delusion (if that's what it was) seemed complete... but Satori was still unnerved. Patchy remained convinced that it was a simple sham (_Please don't drag me into this..._). Satori wasn't so sure.

"Look, I'll even give you a free reading as soon as we're done here." _I wonder what her destiny is like. Probably full of interesting things!_ Remilia was eager to try her new toys, it seemed.

"Alright. You've convinced me it could be worth it. Once we're done with 'Koakuma', then." Remilia smiled happily. _Finally, someone believes me. After they see what I learn about her, they'll have to believe me._ Patchouli was less excited: _Now she's -encouraging- Remi... I suppose I'll just have to suddenly remember something to do after she fails to fix Maatri'as'a._

They arrived at Koakuma's position, and Satori noticed a few things immediately. First, Patchouli saw Koakuma just as she had in her memory; Koakuma was simply resting there, focused on something.

Second, Remilia saw much the same scene, but was very excited as she noticed something... Remilia moved closer, and couldn't believe it... She saw a pair of red strings. The first, about as wide as a hair, was bound between Koakuma and Patchouli. The second, about as wide as a wrist and pulled taut, was bound to Koakuma at one end, the other end seeming to vanish into thin air

The next thing Satori noticed was that Koakuma herself felt like she was being literally torn apart. Her entire will was focused on the small thin string connecting her to Patchouli, pulling as hard as she could against the far more sturdy cord. Whatever that was linked to, Koakuma had no intention of obeying it, but was clearly being compelled to. Her resistance was taxing her connection to Patchouli, blind terror her motivation.

Remilia was the first to speak. "Patchy! Look! They're right there! The red strings of fate! Oh wow! I never thought I'd be able to actually see them! It looks like those training cards are really paying off. Of course, it helps that they're so thick... especially that one..." _Finally! Signs of progress!_

Patchouli's assessment was different. _Great, Remi's gone nuts. I'll ask Sakuya if she's been eating well lately. Some of those humans we received lately looked a little off in the head, so perhaps a chat with Yukari is in order as well._ "Sorry, but I don't see what you're talking about..."

"They're right there!" Remilia took the thick red cord in her hand. "Look!" _Ah, don't tell me she can't see them!_ "Trust me, they're there."

Patchouli rolled her eyes, though Remilia didn't notice. Satori took Remilia's side... Childish, perhaps, but Remilia was indeed of a sound mind... whatever those strings were, she was seeing them because they were there. It was far from the first time Satori had first experienced a new perception, and she was willing to see how it turned out. She commented on them...

"They are rather interesting... I wonder where the larger one leads..."

Remi shot Patchy an _I told you so_ look, and returned to examining the thread, still in amazement as Satori explained the situation to Patchouli.

"It seems Koakuma is resisting some enormous pull on her destiny by using the fact that you bound her. She might not hold out much longer..." Satori moved up to the cord and tapped it with the back of her knuckles... Remilia was still there, and when they both touched it, Satori felt a heart of deep, seething hatred and terror directed at her. She pulled her hand away quickly and blinked, badly worried.

"What?" _Great, now Satori's going mad too. To be expected around madmen, I suppose._

Remilia spoke up "Well, this should be easy. Whatever that cord is, we don't want her attached to it, right?" _I should just cut it then. No problem._

Satori nodded, still shaken. "Good idea. I... suspect it's her link to Makai. I don't know what breaking it will do, but at this rate it's only a matter of time before her will gives out. I'm just going to stand over there. That thing seems like its under a lot of tension, and I'd rather not touch it again." Satori moved a good twenty feet away and watched. Patchouli quirked an eyebrow, but remained where she was. _Well, it doesn't hurt to try... whatever they're doing._

Remilia extended her claws, and with a single, swift motion... got them stuck in the thick red cord. Patchouli was extremely confused. _What in the world is she doing?_

Remilia gritted her teeth... _I'm not going to fail. No one messes with the Scarlet Devil Mansion... The fates within are mine to command!_ She withdrew her claws, then jumped onto a nearby bookshelf before extending her claws again and launching herself with a ridiculous speed at the thick red cord. She slashed it hard, and it snapped. It whipped around Koakuma, and lashed out, but Remilia dodged away from it, and it seemed to pass right through Patchouli and the floor, eventually shrinking fully into Koakuma.

Satori could see this through Remilia's mind, but Patchouli simply saw her friend being far too active and knocking over one of her bookcases. _And now she's making a mess with no one to clean it up..._

Once the cord was absorbed by Koakuma, Her eyes suddenly focused, and her mind seemed to return to her. _Am I... yes..._ relief swept over her as she leapt at a stunned Patchouli and hugged her as hard as she could.

"They almost had me... They almost took me back..." _I wouldn't have lasted even seconds there, now... _ Sure enough, she was thinking of terrible thoughts of what would happen to her. It seemed she was a very minor demon; the sort used on the front lines in combat... Even fairies were treated with more respect in Gensokyo than she had been in Makai. Little wonder she didn't want to return.

Remilia's head was spinning with exultation. _I... I did it...?_ "Yessss! You see, Patchy! One demon, freed from her fate!" Remilia pumped her fist into the air excitedely.

Patchouli was looking very confused as her summoned demon wouldn't let go. _What are you doing? What just happened? Remilia slashed at... something... is she telling the truth...?_ Patchouli was suddenly struck numb...

Remilia approached Patchouli. "Hey, come on, no thanks?" _I just saved your servant and maybe you from servitude to demons, and not even a thanks?_

_Does that mean she really can control fate? That fate exists? Is everything I've done just part of one of her childish schemes?_ Uncertainty flooded Patchouli's mind.

"I wouldn't think so much of yourself. Remilia seems genuinely interested in your friendship, though I'd be lying if I said she hasn't altered your fate."

"You did what! What do you think I am, your slave!" Patchouli was furious, though for once, the anger seemed directed at someone other than Satori.

"I needed to! You didn't even believe me before, and now you're all upset! You can't have it both ways, Patchy!" _Either acknowledge me or don't!_

Patchouli turned to Koakuma, her anger spreading quickly towards Koakuma and Satori herself. "You were in on the trick, too, weren't you!" It was clear Patchouli had chosen -not- to acknowledge Remilia's fate manipulation. Koakuma merely looked confused and stunned, causing Patchouli, to storm off angrily, leaving her stunned and shocked demon behind. Koakuma started to follow Patchouli, but Satori interrupted her.

"I need to speak with you." Koakuma looked worried, but Satori's reassurances calmed her. "I just have some questions about Makai."

"I'm going to go try to talk to Patchy. I'll meet you-" Remilia started.

"At the entrance to the library when I'm done here. Koakuma knows the way, yes yes, carry on." Satori said dismissively to Remilia, who left in a huff. _Interrupting -me-! The nerve!_

Koakuma was looking nervously at her feet while Satori asked her first question.

"Do you know why the demons might be invading?"

"I've been here for a long time... but even a decade ago, our goddess was getting ready for something big..." _Enormous preparations were underway; training, research, manufacture of weapons from magic_. "But I felt my connection to Makai fade a while back... I think it probably collapsed for a while or something?" Koakuma was unsure.

"Thank you. Now, do you know why your bond was being forced so hard? You weren't telling the whole truth before. "

"They did want me back... and to get me, they would have opened a gate... I was trying to avoid getting pulled through, because I didn't want to go back there. That's all there is to it."

But now, able to focus on her, Satori saw the full truth. Koakuma's mind showed a gate, small at first, then, a few moments after Koakuma was pulled through, a larger demon stepped out... then another. They pulled and tore at the gate, increasing its size rapidly. Satori hadn't realized just how much space there was in the library. She looked around now, still not entirely sure of the accuracy of the image... The gate, once finished, would have gone from the floor to the ceiling (A distance of a few hundred feet at least... far larger than she had imagined) and covered hundreds of shelves of books.

Then Koakuma's mind started showing the next steps as she nervously glanced around. Demon hordes marched and flew out of the gate. Demons of every size and shape... thousands became millions, all mustering in the vast space of the library. Koakuma's imagination then showed the beginning of their march... Satori had seen enough.

"That will be enough. They were going to use you to open an invasion gate of some sort?"

Koakuma nodded. _They can probably do it with anything connected to Makai, but I was probably their first idea... my contract wasn't really a secret._

"What? What other sorts of things could they use?"

"Anything made of Makai's energy is a potential gate. Objects, people... even demonic spells could channel enough energy from Makai to let them open a gate here." _And if they get a gate open and secured, there's not really any stopping them. Nothing has so far, anyway._

"Aren't most spells powered by Makai?"

"Well, um..." _yeah, but..._ "It would need to have a really strong connection to Makai, I think. Just using its energy wouldn't be enough, or they'd have been doing stuff for a while."

Great. So now the book was a potential gate for invasion. Things just kept getting better, didn't they? Alice said she had cut her connections with Makai, so she at least should be fine. Satori had yet to speak with Byakuren, who might also have something to do with Makai, being a magician... well, it wouldn't hurt to ask.

"Do you know anyone named Byakuren Hijiri? She's a magician... looks sort of like this?" Satori conjured an image of Byakuren as she had been seen from the Yama's mind.

Koakuma felt recognition and nodded. "Yeah, she was sealed in part of Makai. The goddess seemed to take an unusual interest in her." _If the rumors are true, anyway._ "Rumor had them as good friends, both sealed in Makai... can't remember why Byakuren was, though."

"That reminds me... where did the goddess come from?"

A dozen or more brief tales and images flashed through Koakuma's mind, though they were merely wild fancies in her mind. "No one really knows. You'd probably have to ask her. I wouldn't recommend that, though." _She'd probably not tell you anyway. Then she'd kill you... or worse._ A by now far too familiar sort of image started going through Koakuma's imagination, so Satori cut her off as quickly as she could.

"Any other ideas, then?" Satori asked, having no other specific questions... for now.

"Not really. If they can't get a gate to open here, we'll be fine. It feels like Remilia fixed me, but you should probably have her go to work on Byakuren, maybe?" Koakuma's mind was searching for any other useful information, but Satori didn't see anything of use.

"Alright. I'm going to go and meet with Remilia, then. I may return to ask for some clarification or advice later, so don't go running off and hiding." Koakuma nodded.

"The entrance is over here, then." Koakuma led Satori, seeming quite reassured that everything would work out, now that'd she'd said so much. Satori wasn't nearly as confident.

* * *

_**A Short While Later, in a Corner of the Great Library**_

"Patchy's' really good at what she does." _She doesn't even believe these work, but she still made them. She's a real champ. _Remilia was shuffling the cards. "Guess it isn't too hard to attune an item to someone though huh?"

"Indeed. Now… what are we going to be looking at?" Satori had dried herself off using some magic, and was sitting at a table across from the vampire.

_Wonder what she's like…_"We'll do a divination about you, first, I think. It sounds like you've been busy… So first, your past."

Remilia turned over three cards. The first was labeled "Plague" and depicted a field of bodies. The second, labeled "Field" was upside-down, depicting a wide, grassy plain. The third appeared blank, save for the label "Void".

"Let's see…" _The Plague was either contagion or isolation, usually from death or suffering… inverted field is confinement of circumstance…_ Remilia was thinking as the cards came up. When Void came up, she suddenly became nervous. _Void? I've only seen that a few times..._

"Seems to be accurate, yes. Suffice it to say I underwent a sort of voluntary confinement, not unlike your friend in the library. What's this about Void, though?"

_I… don't know…? _"Patchy!" Remilia called down the stacks of books. "Void came up again!" Patchouli's voice came from nearby, though the witch herself was nowhere nearby.

"I already told you I didn't prepare any "Void" cards in your little deck. Now quit bothering me."

Remilia sighed and shrugged. "I don't know. I've only ever seen it come up in a few divinations before, two of them in particular…" _It always seems to come up in our past-_ Remilia was apparently including her sister there. A_nd in connection with the contract I made to get my human supply…_

"So you've no idea what it means?"

"I have my suspicions…" _My sister seems to feature prominently next to it… It might be related to her power of destruction._"But I'm not sure."

"Well, so there's something important destroyed in my past? Because that's certainly true."

_Not quite._"No, that's Ruin, or Death, or… well, there are a bunch. This is more like… I don't know… Like there should be something there, but there isn't? But not like just something that's missing… that's Lost or Vanished… This is… I don't know. Something's wrong. Like you heard, Patchy didn't even put it in the magic of the deck…" Remilia was clearly a bit unnerved as she rambled on uncertainly.

"Well, let's move on then, I suppose." Satori suggested, and Remilia nodded, revealing another card.

Labeled "Judge", it depicted a man in black robes looming over one prostrating at his feet. _Judge as the self…? Let's see…_ Remilia went through her memory, eventually recalling. _Seems she's being driven by an absolute authority? Odd, normally that comes up as "King" or "Warlord"._

Satori shrugged, then showed Remilia the ring. "No, it's reasonable. The Yama sent me."

"That'd do it, yeah." _Anyway, moving on…_ Remilia pulled out another one… this one labeled "Desire", and depicting a man and woman looking longingly at each other. _Oh ho… seems there's something she wants, and badly… It doesn't seem she knows it, though, or it would have been her self instead… interesting. Let's see what it is she pines for..._

Satori quietly waited, mulling it over in her head…

Remilia revealed the next card and stared numbly. Her mind fluttered with worry. It was Void once again.

"You… don't... loathe your existence, right? Or have any plans to… end existence or anything, right?"

"That is correct."

_What could it be, then…?_ "Do you mind if I… tug on it a bit? It'll probably feel a little weird, but I can't just let something like this by. To see it in your past and present… whatever this is… it's fate is intertwined with yours…" _And if it -is- what I think it is, then I might just have to stop her here and now._

Satori stood on guard, carefully assessing the vampire in case things did come down to a conflict, but she realized that refusing the offer would guarantee a fight. And she was not up to fighting a vampire so soon after escaping from Yuuka.

"Alright. Go ahead." Remilia reached over the void cards, gathering 'something'… Even Remilia didn't seem to know exactly what she was doing, but she had some experience in whatever-this-was, and seemed confident. After 'gathering' 'something' into her hand, she jerked her arm back suddenly.

Satori felt something strong pulling at her third eye, and she clutched it fiercely. It was as though something were trying to tear it away or rip it off, and the very thought of losing her eye filled her with such revulsion and terror that she gagged. The force stopped as suddenly as it had started, leaving a very confused Remilia and a satori who was no more enlightened as to what had just transpired than the vampire across from her.

_That was... odd._

"Please don't do that again..." Satori wasn't even sure what -had- just been done, but it was a terrifying sensation indeed.

"Let's... just... move on, then?" Remilia suggested, and Satori numbly nodded.

Remilia revealed another card. _Well, now for her future._ The card, "Atlas", depicted a muscular man holding a world. _Responsibility… a crushing responsibility that no one wants to take… though not an unbearable one…_

The next card was turned over… "War", though it too was inverted. _The upcoming end of a large conflict is in the future, though given Atlas' presence, the cost seems like it may be very very high…_

Remilia was frowning. She looked at Satori. "I think I'm beginning to grow more attuned to this deck, or your fate. I can't shake the feeling that I know what card is next…" Remilia revealed the next card, to reveal, as she had expected, Void once more. She sighed.

"So, it really is up to me to stop this war, and it'll cost me...?"

_I wish it were that clear…_"Well, that's a possibility. I'm more worried with what the Void represents here."

"You're worried the cost might not merely be personal."

"Yes." _After all, if nothing exists, then there can't be war… Atlas losing the world would end it…_"It's possible that the war will end when everything else does. Because of your efforts. I think maybe you should stop your current path."

"What, you think I can't handle it?"

"I think I like existing. I'd alter this fate, but I'm nowhere near confident enough to mess around with it when there's so much at stake." _Last time I tried to alter a large fate I brought a meteor down on my head._

"You really think I would end the world."

_Yes._ Remilia's mind answered immediately, but she was going to reply more tactfully with _Well… It seems fate has put you in a position where you could. _Satori, of course, didn't let her.

"If you're just going to accuse me of bringing the end of the world, I think perhaps its time I left."

"Hey, I did say it's possible you won't. But really…." Remilia's intent was obvious, and Satori moved to dodge Remilia's sudden dash strike, managing to get out of the way with the warning.

"The world can't afford that risk." Satori finished Remilia's sentence and drew her spellcards "A duel then? I declare four." Satori said calmly and swiftly. Remilia's response surprised her.

"No." Remilia swiftly moved again, and Satori stumbled out of the way, barely avoiding the attack, thanks only to seeing it in Remilia's mind. Remilia didn't even miss a beat though, and with great alacrity slammed Satori into the wall while she was still off balance, knocking the wind out of her. Without giving her a chance to recover, Remilia gripped Satori by the throat, hovering in her face.

Satori was out of breath, couldn't breath, and couldn't believe what had just happened. Spellcards were supposed to be binding!

"And now you're wondering what just happened… why I wasn't bound?" Remilia gloated as Satori struggled against her impossibly mighty grip.

"Oh, I could give you the long story, about how I made them through my fate manipulation… how I encouraged their use, even demonstrating their 'effectiveness' myself…"

Satori was beginning to see stars, and her vision was tunneling.

"But it doesn't seem you'll be with me much longer…" Remilia slammed Satori against the wall again. Stars spun in her eyes... "So I'll get to the point"

"Void lies ahead of you. Rather than risk it being the world's, I think it only fair that you be the one to face it. Whether you make it through or not, that fate will be fulfilled." Remilia grinned, Satori now struggling to even remain conscious, Remilia's thoughts nudging her towards darkness.

_Sis needed a new toy, anyway._

* * *

_**The Basement of the Scarlet Devil Mansion**_

Satori awoke at the sudden shock of hitting the floor. She was short of breath, her body was sore and still covered in numerous injuries from her time with Yuuka, and the ground was cold and hard. There was no light at all, but Satori could sense another mind… childish to the extreme, fragmented and unstable… A heart that was seemed to pulse with an unsteady beat, a wild, untamable power, barely restrained by madness and childlike naivete, and a web of destiny. This child held in her hands the keys to the destruction of everything. There was no doubt that this was the Void Remilia spoke of.

Through the mind, Satori saw those keys. The walls, floor, and ceiling weren't visible except through the child's uncanny nightvision. There was nothing else even in the room, but when the child turned its gaze to Satori, she was terrified.

The child's red eyes glowed, the only light visible in the bleak room. Her laugh was one of childish glee… _A new toy! Yay! I need to give sis a hug! We'll talk and play and have all kinds of fun! _Though the thoughts, laughs, and eyes were unnerving, they weren't what bothered Satori the most. No, that was what Satori saw herself as through the child's mind.

Frail. Satori had never viewed herself as resilient, but through the child's eyes, her form was hardly discernible from the air around her… Satori seemed as though a simple breath could blow her away. The only thing that seemed solid at all was her third eye, though it seemed the lid was gone, its unblinking gaze staring at the child.

"Wow! You just have one eye!" _Most of my toys have a whole bunch! _Images flashed of humanoid figures seeming to be composed of eyes within eyes, of smaller, animal shapes, again built with cascading eyes… These eyes warping and shifting as the forms were pulled apart, popping as the child touched them, which gave her a sort of glee.

The child was clearly mad. It was a… minor madness, far removed from Alice's complete breakdown a short while ago. Even so, it rubbed Satori the wrong way and made her feel ill at ease.

"Let's play… Hmmm…." Images flashed through her mind. Games like playing catch with herself by flinging Satori hard, then running ahead of the throw and catching her. It looked bonebreaking. Then there was dancing… at such a frenzied pace and with such an unrestrained style that it would doubtless result in the child tearing off Satori's limbs…

Rather than let her decide, Satori had her own idea. One that she -really- hoped would work this time.

"How about danmaku play? You know about spellcards, right?" Satori hoped she was right, and the child's mind thankfully revealed now that she was familiar with them.

"Sure! I usually use nine of them… One for each little indian, minus the one I killed. How about whoever wins chooses the next game?" The child… Satori finally managed to glean the name 'Flandre' from her mind… said, though even in her own mind it appeared she had little idea what she was speaking of. It was clear to Satori though that if Flandre chose the next game, then there probably wouldn't be another one after that. Not for Satori, anyway.

Satori was worried. Nine! She'd probably be exhausted after diving into the mad girl's heart to unearth her trauma… and pulling up that many would be impossible. At best, she might manage her usual four… more likely, even that would be too taxing. Her mind worked quickly, desperately searching for a solution, then found one… maybe.

"Hey, it's pretty dark in here. Without some light, we won't really be able to appreciate the beauty of a good fight. How about I magic us up some lights?" Satori suggested.

"Oh, good idea! The colors are kinda annoying to watch without background light. Wow, you're smart!" Flandre's mind and thoughts seemed to be the same, as many children's were. It seemed she had not yet learned the fine art of self-deception. Meanwhile, Satori was creating some lights that shimmered and pulsed hypnotically.

Flandre was fascinated with the lights that danced and flowed between colors. Here was Satori's best hope.

"I'm eager to get on to the next game, so how about we each just use two spellcards for this duel? Then, just as you said, the winner decides the next game?"

"Huh? Oh, sure. Yeah." Flandre agreed, thumbing out two random cards as she stared fascinated by the lights, and Satori felt the tug at her spirit that indicated the spellcard contract would be enforced. Satori was far from safe now, but at least she had a chance… she just had to win.

"Then let's begin!" Satori shouted, and launched a fierce barrage. Flandre, still fascinated by the lights, dodged them trivially. Satori wasn't surprised; in Flandre's mind, the attacks seemed as though they were traveling through molasses, and though the flashing lights occupied almost all of her visual attention, Flandre was having little trouble hearing the barrage crawling towards her, and her movements were almost transcendentally simple. Satori's only hope was that Flandre's mind had some weakness she could exploit. She declared her card.

"Recollection: Terrifying Hypnotism!" It was slightly different, this time, coming from the lights which had already fascinated the young vampire. As usual, the attack was dodged with little effort. Almost none on the vampire's part, really. But she was completely open to the true purpose of the spellcard. Satori was prepared… the only reason she wasn't completely lost in the chaos of Flandre's mind.

Satori sought for a weak point she could exploit. It was difficult; the swirling chaos obscured her eye's sight, and Flandre's mind was already so fragmented, it would be hard to find a shard large enough to cause her to lose herself. Then she saw what she needed to do, and she couldn't help but smile at the irony.

The card ended, and Flandre was snapped out of the hypnotism. Fully realizing they were playing now, she launched forth a magical barrage that was wild and uncontrolled… and thick. Satori couldn't rely on her third eye to counter it, but she could still discern Flandres dodging patterns easily enough. This, along with Flandre's terrible pattern recognition allowed Satori to pin Flandre and force her to declare her card, though dodging long enough to do so had been difficult.

"Taboo: Four of a kind!" Flandre's mind split into four, each taking on a different personality. Only a mind as fluid and fragmented as Flandre's would ever have been able to withstand such a split and retain any identity in all four. She had managed it, and with little difficulty. Satori dodged desperately… what had once been an attack like a wall, was now four attacks like walls. She lasted as long as she could, but she had to declare her spellcard now… if she was right, this would defeat the vampire before she even declared her second card. Satori decided not to think on the outcome if she were wrong.

"Recollection: Sanity's Burden!" Satori declared. Danmaku started in several small circles, two of which enclosed a pair of Flandres each. They contracted, and force the two pairs to merge, resulting in two Flandres, though their minds were already more solid and unified than the original Flandre's had been. The circles dispersed after having been reduced to almost nothing. The process repeated again, and the remaining pair were forced to merge similarly. Then, the third time, Flandre wasn't encapsulated, but the circles closed completely, appearing harmless. This kept happening, leaving Satori open to attack. Then bullets came from Flandre, launching away from her in the direction she moved. They hit the closed circles, they erupted into a spray, which hit others… which erupted into an even denser spray… The chain reaction continued, and Flandre was hit, losing the match.

From Flandre's mind, of course, there was far more going on. Her splintered minds felt comfortable being allowed to separate from each other. She'd been planning on trying splitting even more ways, but hadn't tried yet. Being in four bodies with four independent minds was relieving… as though a pressure was released. When the two pairs were forced together, they merged smoothly… too smoothly. Normally when this spellcard ended, it resulted in the destruction of her other minds, causing them to return splintered into fragments… The last two merged into Flandre Scarlet. A unified Flandre Scarlet, her mind the most solid it had been for many years.

Then she saw things being made. Existing. She recognized them from her past, and she moved to embrace them. Then, her power seeped forward, reaching the thing and wiping it out in an explosion. She panicked, darting away towards another, which exploded even more violently. Soon, everything was exploding, and all that remained was destruction. And she fully understood it was her fault. All of it because she couldn't control her own power. Everything was destroyed, no identities remained, no form, just a swirling chaos, the only thing she could make. And with her mind more stable than it had ever been, the chaos that had thrived in her mind, formerly her ally, now coalesced into guilt and shame. As she hovered in the middle of the chaos, trying to make sense of it, it consumed her.

Flandre wept on her knees, hands covering her face. _I did it? I wiped them all out? Why couldn't I just hug them… I just… wanted… friends… I thought they just left me, turned me away… but it was me, wasn't it? _She looked directly at Satori.

"I destroyed them…" Flandre was unused to this feeling of responsibility, and Satori wasn't really helping… she was a little too concerned with saving her own skin, still.

"Yes. You lost control, and wiped out everything that was important to you once. well, almost everything. Your sister survived. But you already know this... Why am I wasting my breath? I need to go."

Satori was already moving towards the door, but Flandre's voice followed her... her confusion had turned into a very focused anger.

"You… what did you do to me? I was happy! Why would you take that from me!" _You devil! Satori Komeiji... To be merely hated is too good for you… someone needs to punish you… _Flandre's hate was focused directly at Satori, though the patchwork fixes Satori had worked on Flandre's mind were already beginning to crack. Satori was uneasy, but knew that the contract prevented Flandre from killing her. At least, until she sensed Flandre reach out her arm and… break a small, almost imperceptible eye with her right hand. The feeling of security was gone… Flandre had somehow nulled the contract, much like her sister had.

Satori was trying to get the door to open, now with desperation driving her, but it appeared to be locked. She was trying her best to ignore Flandre's oppressive thoughts, but suddenly picked up the intent to act, and tried to dodge out of the way. Flandre was just too fast though, and Satori was stunned by the shock of impact, which launched both of them through the door. Flandre's lunge had taken the door right off its hinges, and hardly lost any momentum as the pair of bodies slammed hard against the wall. Satori was only alive because she had begun to dodge out of the way. From her shoulderblade out had erupted in pain as bones shattered under the impact, her ribs cracking loudly.

Satori caught her breath and tried a move out of desperation. She had seen two ways to manipulate space. She hadn't tried it before, herself, but it seemed the only way she could get back outside… she knew from Flandre's heart of the vampiric weakness to daylight, and it was still the early afternoon. If she could get outside, she might make it.

Satori was uncomfortable using such a technique with no practice… having only seen it performed twice, and even then using different techniques. And death was the most likely outcome of failure. As Flandre stepped away from Satori's battered form, readying herself for another strike, Satori twisted space, folding it beneath her feet, using as much of her magic as she could quickly muster. She gathered up the almost limitless space of the mansion, and placed it between her two feet as she staggered across it. She couldn't even hold it for more than one step, but that seemed to be enough, she was at the main door to the Scarlet Devil Mansion. She started to take another step, getting into a running stride…

And Flandre slammed into her. Satori wondered how for only a brief moment before Flandre's mind revealed the truth. Flandre's unbelievable speed had merely kept up as Satori had all but teleported. Flandre had tackled her shoulders into Satori's legs, and the sound of bones breaking was second only to the immense pain of the experience. Satori's head hit the door, blowing the door open and sending her hurtling out. Satori could vaguely sense extreme frustration from Flandre as Satori rapidly sailed out of sight.

Satori tried to catch herself and start flying, but she was moving too fast, and her head was still reeling from the impact with the door. It didn't help that she was tumbling wildly, dizzying her further and making it impossible to get an idea of which direction was "down." She started to slow her spinning so she could slow her descent, but before she had made any progress, her body crashed hard into something, and the pain from her mangled legs and shattered arm caused her to lose consciousness.

* * *

_**Author's Notes:**_

Next chapter is the last pre-written one, so these will start coming out a lot slower. I still have a whole lot of ideas, a general idea of where the plots going, but I've found that while writing, unexpected things start to happen in the story, and it starts to write itself a bit. I'm very interested to see just how things will go. Thanks for reading!


	6. Chapter 6

_**The Bamboo Forest of the Lost**_

Toyohime knelt, sobbing over the loss of her sister and her civilization, clutching the instrument of their destruction. She had arrived somewhere in the bamboo forest, but she wasn't sure exactly where. She didn't even know how sat there, grieving... time seemed to be frozen.

In but a few short weeks, the entire moon had been lost. Her entire life, she had thought the forces of the lunar capital unbeatable. Never had Toyohime thought that demons, however numerous, could have so despoiled the moon. _Perhaps Eirin will know how to fix it… No… it's too late, now... there's nothing left to save. I destroyed it all...  
_

"Eh? Who are you? You look lost..." Toyohime looked up through tear-filled eyes to see an impure earthling in red pants and a white shirt, with ankle length, ash-white hair loosely bound with ribbons. She was about to scold the earthling for invading before she remembered once again that she was on the earth... that the Earth would have to be her new home.

"I'm... I'm Toyohime. Do... do you know where... Eirin is? Eirin... Yagokoro?"

"Oh yeah, sure. She lives over at Eientei. It's just over there. Got a loved one suffering from something bad, and you're worried you can't pay, it looks like? Eh, don't worry, she's pretty easygoing about debts. It'll be fine. I'll take you there if you want. I've got... business there, anyway."

Toyohime wanted to correct her, but couldn't find the words... she merely nodded in agreement. She staggered to her feet and followed behind the woman who strode confidently, as though she knew every twist and turn of the confusing forest.

"Name's Mokou, by the way. Pleased to meet ya."

* * *

_**A Short While Later, Outside Eientei  
**_

The pair stood at the gates to Eientei. Toyohime looked at it, but her despair must have colored her perception... it seemed as deserted and sinister as the moon she had just come from. A far cry from her memories, where it was full of energetic earth rabbits.

"Here we go... I'll take you inside. That should keep Eirin distracted while... heh..." Mokou grinned. That stuck up princess wouldn't have her doctor lackey today.

"Oh... Thank you... Miss Mokou..." They both went past the outer gate, Mokou absorbed in her fantasy, and Toyohime in her sorrow. Neither noticed a critical note posed on the gate.

Mokou opened the door as Toyohime approached behind her. And she looked into Eientei... and realized something was very, very unusual. There was a visible purple tint to the air, which seemed thick and oppressive. Was the doctor performing some sort of experiment today? Mokou was getting a strong impression that today was a bad day. She closed the door and turned to Toyohime.

"You know... I don't think she's in today. You can come rest at my place and we'll check back..." Mokou began to feel a slight burning. She started moving away, but within moments the burning erupted into agony, and Mokou's muscles spasmed, then stopped listening to her altogether. She saw Toyohime suffering from a similar affliction. Twisted images began dancing through her mind... Mokou tried to move... but despite her will, her muscles wouldn't react.

Mokou focused... years of training in pain tolerance were all that were keeping her in control of her senses. She tried using her magic, but something was blocking her. No helping it then... she had to do -that-. Mokou then did something few humans could ever manage, let alone more than once... it had taken her over a century to learn the technique... her utter disillusionment had driven her to learn it, in a desperate attempt to escape her fate. It had served her well against many youkai in the intervening years, for none bothered to attack her once she had used it against them.

She willed herself to die.

Mokou's body fell to the ground, lifeless, crumbling to ash within moments without Mokou's soul to sustain it. Mokou's soul quickly formed a new body and clothes from her surroundings, in her own mental image... even Mokou couldn't manage to will the effects of the Hourai Elixir away... and her soul was thrust unceremoniously back into life.

It was an unconventional tactic, but an effective one... usually. She could still feel the slight burning from earlier. Toyohime was clearly still suffering the effects of whatever -that- had been, so Mokou lifted her onto her back and carried her out of the gate. She had just made it out when once again the burning sensation flared into agony. Her muscles failed her once again, and she fell to the ground, spilling Toyohime to the ground, her fan dropping just outside the gate. Mokou wasn't about to give up, though... She once again willed herself to death.

As her soul drifted for a few seconds, she wondered where she could go... Keine could help, perhaps... The human village it was, then.

Again, the Hourai Elixir returned to her a new body... though she could tell this one as well was tainted. She cursed, and picked up Toyohime, breaking into a run... knowing she could cover at least a little ground before... yes, -again- the burning became a searing agony... she felt the familiar pain and paralysis come over her soon after, and she again died as few others had... She pitied Toyohime, who had no such escape, and wondered why the poison remained with her between resurrections... at least the pain didn't reach her soul. It was a foul poison, but not the most vile one... the one that had forever altered her life.

As her soul floated over the pair, she judged her progress... she'd made it about 20 paces... This was going to be a long and painful journey.

* * *

_**Hakugokurou, within the Netherworld**_

In the Netherworld, Reimu was bitterly serving tea. True to her word, Yuyuko had allowed her rematches... countless rematches. Yuyuko, however was simply not giving in. She had inhuman stamina, of course, but normally by now she'd have at least budged on her stance. But no, it seemed that she really didn't want to disturb Yukari, and Reimu being unwilling to use her power to its full extent prevented her from changing Yuyuko's mind.

Then again, perhaps Yuyuko simply enjoyed Reimu's service.

As Yuyuko had declared, Reimu wasn't allowed any more rematches until Reimu stitched up enough of Youmu's clothes or her own to have something left to change into. The current outfit was almost scandalous. Youmu's body hadn't developed much yet, and to make things worse, the outfit hadn't been adjusted for years... maybe even decades. The green skirt was barely decent, the white blouse didn't close all the way, despite Reimu's modest bust, nor did it even reach her waist. Her shoulder-length hair was loose, only held out of her face by a hairband of Youmu's that had mercifully avoided destruction, and the cold of the netherworld's winter chilled her bare arms and legs. Snow kept getting in her shoes, and all in all, she was having a very rough time.

Reimu's injuries were healed, but the chill was still getting to her. Oddly enough, though the snow chilled her, it was merely very uncomfortable, rather than painful. Yuyuko assured her the dulled sensation was a result of being dead, but Reimu still didn't think she was really dead. More likely, this was just a terrible, terrible dream.

Suddenly, Shikieiki Yamaxanadu appeared. Her presence, as always, caused Reimu to unconsciously stand at attention and suddenly feel very self conscious. It didn't help that she was now starting very judgmentally at Reimu's embarrassing attire.

"I didn't realize the shrine was that desperate for donations… You should treat yourself with more respect than this. There are more dignified ways to earn money."

Reimu was nearly boiling over with a combination of rage and embarrassment, but the Yama's powerful presence kept her subdued while the Yama spoke to Yuyuko.

"Unfortunately, due to recent events, we need to use the netherworld as a holding area for souls that have not yet been judged. As they've not yet even reached the Sanzu, many of them have not yet shed their forms, so it may become crowded." Yuyuko seemed relatively undisturbed by the Yama's presence, and nodded.

"I suppose that's alright. I still haven't needed to open the expansion yet, so it should be easy enough to seal off, if that would help keep them isolated. Anything else?"

"That would be very… Where is your normal servant?"

"She's out trying to solve the incident."

"I see. Perhaps I should speak with her, then. Anyway, yes, that would be very good... you'll have some guests to entertain... I'll put the demons' souls in the expansion and block it from the netherworld proper, lest they taint the netherworld as they have the moon, but the others will have to come here. Thank you for your cooperation. It is a good thing you convinced me to add that expansion, though it's a shame it will be ruined so."

"Isn't it, though? Anyway, I'd hate to keep you from your work, but if you'd like a spot of tea, Reimu is becoming quite good at preparing it."

"I''m afraid I haven't the time. Take care, and alert me if there are any other developments."

"Wait!" Reimu called out.

The Yama glared at her. "What is it?"

"Am I really dead?" Reimu asked. The Yama would be able to convince Yuyuko of the truth, she was sure.

The Yama looked annoyed. "You -are- in the Netherworld. What else would you be?" With that, the Yama vanished.

"What a silly question that was, Reimu! I've been telling you that for several days now. Well, look on the bright side: You skipped past judgement. All in all, really a very good deal for you." Yuyuko chided, but it didn't do much to improve Reimu's sour mood.

"Now, how about you begin to make tea for our guests? It seems we'll have plenty. About a thousand or so."

"A -THOUSAND-!" Reimu cried out in disbelief.

"Well, yes. She did say there were too many to judge… so if they ran out of space at the shores of the Sanzu, then everyone else who-"

Several hundred people appeared suddenly, looking very confused. They started conversing in hushed tones. Reimu and Yuyuko recognized their garb, and recognized in particular one who had appeared between them, sobbing quietly on the ground, while most of the rest were quietly conversing.

"Yorihime? What are you doing here?" Reimu asked of the tearful Lunarian. Yorihime looked up, causing Reimu to skitter backwards and tug her skirt down as much as she could. The skirt may be better than nothing, but Yorihime was a little too close to the ground, and Reimu didn't want to hear -another- humiliating speech about her immodesty. Yuyuko grinned at her antics, but Yorihime's eyes almost seemed empty as she simply bowed her head back down and resumed sobbing.

"Well, Reimu, If anyone ever needed tea, I think its these poor folks, don't you agree? Best you get busy." Yuyuko told Reimu.

Reimu fidgeted nervously with her skirt as she hustled into Hakugyokurou, muttering something under her breath.

* * *

_**Somewhere near the Misty lake, that Afternoon**_

Brief images and thoughts came to Satori as she drifted in and out of consciousness. A bunch of fairies surrounding her, poking her back into unconsciousness. A triumphant fairy in a blue dress dragging her along, causing her to black out. Being shown to another fairy in a blue dress, filled with horror at Satori's mangled state. Sunset... panic… the vampires were coming. They'd kill her for sure... Then everything getting cold before she blacked out again. Waking up in extreme cold and darkness. Was she alive? She was numb… no, not quite. there was still a great deal of pain… she couldn't move though. Restrained, somehow? Her body shivered involuntarily, causing pain to shoot through her shattered limbs, and stealing consciousness away once more.

* * *

_**At the Shore of the Misty Lake, the Next Morning**_

Satori awoke and saw it was daylight. She had somehow survived the night… After her blurry eyes focused, she also noticed she was indoors… in some sort of ice structure, given the cold and painful amounts of light that flooded it. She could see her labored breaths, and only one of her limbs was even responding at all, and it seemed trapped. Fortunately, it was her unbroken arm, her right one… it seemed like it had suffered some serious bruising, but at least it wasn't broken. Her body shivered uncontrollably in the cold.

Some time passed like this. If her hand were free, she could perhaps conjure some flame and escape. Her magical reserves had recharged, but she was bound… again. She just hoped whoever had captured her this time was more forgiving than Yuuka or Remilia or Patchouli... that list was getting to be far too long.

A fairy in a blue dress entered. Even in Satori's drained state, the frozen heart of an ice fairy was obvious. A simple, playful heart. Satori saw the fairy recalling dragging Satori to her home, and winced at her shameful appearance, seen through the fairy's eyes. Clothes were badly torn, her cuts from her time with Yuuka seemed to have reopened at some point, her limbs were broken in several places, though she couldn't tell the extent of the damage; the snow that coated her as she was dragged through it had melted, soaking her, only to refreeze as a thick layer of ice, tainted with the color of her blood. That was probably why she couldn't move, then.

"Hey! You awake now? You look like you got in a fight with yours truly!" The fairy's extreme confidence was ridiculous, but her mind only echoed her words.

"I've got to get going." Satori said, trying to break out of her prison of ice, but she wasn't sure she would be able to, even if she weren't struggling to stay conscious.

"Oh ho! You can go, but only once you beat me in a duel!"

Satori was surprised… fairies weren't usually ones to suggest a duel. After all, they had no fear of death, so in a fight they typically just went all out. The spellcard system had been made in part to preserve youkai pride... And here was a fairy, challenging a youkai?

"You'd… have to free me, first?"

"Well, duh! I know that, stupid. Will you duel me or not? I need the practice freezing things." The fairy ("Cirno, the strongest!" as she tended to think of herself) remained confident in her victory.

Satori's pride was challenged… This fairy thought she could beat a youkai in a spellcard duel? A satori, no less? She started to reach for her spellcards, then recalled she was still buried in ice. And that three of her limbs was broken, she had lost a great deal of blood, her clothes would provide no protection against the cold she would face, and she may well be sporting a concussion, given the throbbing headache that nagged at her.

Okay, so the fairy had a -slight- advantage right now… Satori was in poor condition to fight, but she didn't feel she had a choice. Perhaps she could turn down the duel, and convince the fairy another way…

No… If nothing else, she was now curious about the fairy. To challenge a youkai… Satori was still stunned at the fairy's unusual guts. Besides, if she didn't get out of this ice soon...

"Alright… I accept your duel. Now will you break me free?"

"Of course!" Cirno walked out side and returned with a steel shovel. She started chipping away at the ice, though it took about 20 minutes to even free Satori's good arm, and the pain of the sudden jolts in her broken limbs stole her consciousness away several times. After that, Satori started helping melt the ice, and it went much faster. Within an hour, Satori was soaked and freezing, but at least she wasn't still trapped in ice. Satori flew outside, her three broken limbs hanging limp, having great difficulty breathing. She realized this fight was going to be far harder than it ought to be.

Cirno declared that she would use two spellcards, and Satori decided on two, realizing that she needed to get out of here and into some proper shelter, and fast.

"And the stakes?" Satori questioned.

"Uhm. I don't know. If I win… you… tell everyone you know how this fight happened? Yeah! Then they'll all know of my greatness." Satori was hesitant to accept, but wasn't really in a position to refuse. If she lost this fight, she would literally never be able to live it down. Her pride as a youkai was on the line, though it seemed Cirno didn't realize the full implications of that. Of course, if she lost this fight, there was a good chance she wouldn't be able to live at -all-...

"And if I win, then you guide me... where I ask, to rest and recover." Satori managed out through chittering teeth. It hadn't been warm in the ice-house, but at least it had blocked out this bitter wind blowing hard above the lake, clearing mist that seemed to reappear as soon as it was swept away.

The contract had been formed, and the spellcard duel began.

* * *

Satori immediately cursed Flandre for crippling her so. She could easily read the patterns in Cirno's attacks, but flying with only one functional limb was not a skill she had much practice with. That, combined with the buffeting, freezing wind biting at her soaked body and the pain from her broken limbs and headache was making the trivial patterns far harder to dodge... she had trouble focusing her eyes, and frequently saw double or even triple, complicating matters further yet. Meanwhile, with only one arm, her offense was badly hindered as well. Satori decided she needed to end this quickly, and declared her first spellcard after thinking herself pinned, perhaps a dozen seconds into the duel.

"Recollection: Terrifying Hypnotism!" Cirno immediately stopped dodging and stared into the amazing pattern, completely captivated. The spellcard rapidly dove into Cirno's mind, and within a second, if had managed to form the other spellcard. It seemed Cirno was heavily traumatized by… that couldn't be right… Utsuho? It seemed Satori had a good story to get from one of her pets later.

Unfortunately, with her vision blurring and her head spinning as it was, she wasn't able to maintain the spellcard any longer. She didn't even see the fist sized chunk of ice Cirno had launched at her. It slammed into Satori's head... it was a miracle she was still conscious, but she had lost... against a fairy.

Satori didn't care. She needed shelter, and soon.

"There, you win, where can I... go to-" Satori stuttered through chattering teeth before being cut off.

"Tell everyone of my great victory? Oh! There's that temple! Then humans AND youkai will hear how awesome I am! Yeah! It's that way!" Cirno pointed, and Satori started off in the direction indicated.

As she flew, Satori could swear the air was colder than ever... She felt the frozen heart following her... No, it wasn't the same one... slightly different. It seemed to be just out of reach, but Satori had no time or desire to tangle with yet another being of cold, so she pressed on... but she wasn't able to get any real distance between them, and she could feel the temperature dropping even more...

Satori's magical flight carried her surprisingly far, but with three useless limbs and the temperature dropping as swiftly as it was, it was a miracle she managed to get as close to the temple as she did before losing too much concentration and falling on a branch, loudly cracking it, and causing her to scream in pain before the collision of her mangled limbs with the snow covered ground beneath caused her to black out again.

* * *

More fragments of thought… someone rushing to her… she was being carried… there was concern for her… then she was out of the cold, and her mind slipped under the warmth it had suddenly been offered.

* * *

_**At the Scarlet Devil mansion, the next day**_

Remilia sat in her great hall, musing over recent events. Flandre was finally back to normal, content and mad once again. She had caused a great deal of difficulty before that, though… she had even mortally wounded Sakuya... Remilia had needed to alter her fate to save her. This had manifested in the gate guard realizing her ability could be used to heal another, it seemed. At least the damage was contained… Remilia had long ago ensured that the fates of those within the Scarlet Devil Mansion as well as the mansion itself were safe from Flandre's power of destruction, but altering fates was a difficult, complex thing… even after centuries of practice, she was still having difficulty with it.

That accursed satori! What had she done to Flandre, anyway? She had been unusually clear headed after the encounter, which had made her far more difficult to coerce. Remilia had needed to wrestle with Flandre and her fate for the rest of the day in order to get her back under control. Now Flandre was a mess… it would take weeks or even months for Remilia to fix the slipshod job she had done caging Flandre's power again. She let out a long sigh.

And to make it worse, the satori had survived. Remilia wasn't sure what Satori was doing, but the void that seemed to be guiding her life… Remilia wasn't sure what to make of it, but it worried her deeply. If only Satori would let Remilia rename her, let her take full control of Satori's destiny, then…

Remilia gave a hollow laugh. Like that would ever happen. All those who dwelt here had been unable to object when she bound their fates. Given Patchouli's reaction when Satori had revealed Remeilia's use of fate manipulation, she doubted any of them would have accepted, had they been in a position to refuse. And truthfully, if she hadn't altered their fates they'd be dead now, killed by Flandre if they'd not have died on their own…

Remilia sensed the presence of another… she looked up…

"Well, if it isn't Yukari's little pet." Remilia continued sitting. "What brings you here today?"

"Two spellcard duels were violated here recently. We had an agreement." Ran flatly stated, arms crossed within her robes as they always seemed to be.

"It needed to be nulled.. Gensokyo was at… Wait, two?" Remilia's heart suddenly grew cold with dread.

"Yes. Apparently both were duels with Satori Komeiji. We took our own measures in case you tampered with the spellcard agreement… it seems we were justified in not trusting you."

"I… I only nulled one. She… it seemed her course was going to end Gensokyo, so I took it into my own hands…"

"You know you were to consult with us first before making any exceptions."

"There wasn't any time!"

"Perhaps, perhaps not. I'll look into that. What's your excuse for the other, then? It had better be good." Ran was impatient as she asked.

Remilia considered… if she hadn't nulled it… had Satori? Remilia had heard that satori could use techniques of another…

"I'm telling you I didn't break any others! It must have been that blasted satori!"

"Why would she null a duel she had won?" Ran casually explained…

"Maybe she… realized she had worded it badly?" Remilia suggested, but she didn't believe it.

"I suppose that's possible. A poorly worded duel has left the winner worse off than before on occasion. But that's not what you think happened, is it? You aren't confident she could do that after seeing it just once…" Ran explained… Remilia frowned… Remilia supposed she had let her voice quiver. She was no beginner at subterfuge, but compared to Yukari or Ran, she had several hundreds years less experience. Remilia let out a sigh before confessing. She may as well try to get back into Yukari's good books, at least.

"It's possible… -possible-… that Flandre did it."

"I thought you said you had your sister under control. Yet another part of the bargain you've failed to uphold, it seems."

"I did! It was that satori's fault! She did something to my sister… All the years of carefully calming Flandre down, concealing what she'd done… binding her power… whatever Satori did ruined all that. It took me all day to fix her again!" Remilia was exasperated.

"You're trying to pin this on the satori now? While I wouldn't be surprised if it were within her capabilities… why would she?"

"Do -I- look like a satori? I don't know!" Remilia could accept fault… when it was hers. Being blamed for that satori's mistakes was too much, though. Remilia was standing in anger now.

Ran considered for a moment, as calm as usual… eventually replying. "Perhaps you need to be reminded why upholding bargains is a good idea. Of course, doing so with spellcards would… as you've just demonstrated… be rather pointless."

"You can't beat me! You know that! I cannot lose in a real fight. Not you, nor Yukari, nor anyone else can change that fate! I may not be a master of my ability yet, but my own fate is what I make it!" Remilia's confidence was absolute.

Ran glared at Remilia… Ran's eyes seemed to empty almost entirely, seeming to lead to some void, but still seeing… something not unlike a pupil or several darted around within… her magical energy swelled… And Remilia knew with no doubt that Ran knew exactly how to use it… She clearly had Yukari's full backing. Ran's nine tails twitches anxiously, and her face suddenly seemed far more vulpine… she was beginning to tap into her full power, but Remilia was still confident she could win… her own might was comparable, after all, and she literally couldn't lose unless she wished to.

Then Ran gazed deep at Remilia, her unnatural eyes demonstrating millennia of battlefield experience, putting to shame Remilia's absolute lack thereof. Ran, master tactician that she was, taught Remilia in a bestial, growling voice a very important point that she hadn't yet learned.

"A battle avoided has fewer -casualties- than a costly victory. I'd advise you to think carefully on whether you wish to continue testing our borders of tolerance." Ran stood for a moment, then turned and walked through one of Yukari's gaps…

Remilia was quivering in doubt that swiftly turned to fear… Ran was right… she could alter her own fate, but what of her friends? Perhaps, given this warning, she could protect the mansion and its inhabitants… but it would take time. And she couldn't even protect anyone outside the mansion… their fates were far too tangled to sort through with her limited experience… Reimu would almost certainly be a target. And warding them against Ran… that wouldn't stop her shikigami. Even if she warded them against death entirely, Remilia was all too aware that worse fates existed. Countless such fates… warding so much against so many possibilities would be impossible. Perhaps if she had a few thousand years of experience, she'd be able to bind the fate of her enemies instead of her own… but for now, Ran's point had been made.

Yes, Remilia could win against Ran and Yukari… but was she willing to pay the cost?

* * *

_**Safe In Bed, Days Later**_

Satori awoke, looking around wearily. She was in a plain room, resting in a very comfortable bed. Her bad arm was still causing the most pain, but her legs were numb. Most of her skin stung as well to make up for it, though. She was tucked into the bed very tightly, and she was -again- unable to move. This trend was -really- beginning to get on her nerve.

She waited impatiently. Surely someone would come eventually. It took an hour, but this turned out to be the case. A youkai entered the room; a woman dressed in a nun's habit. She was carrying a warm stew of some sort._ She's finally awake? Thank goodness._

"Good to see you're awake. I'm-" the woman started, but Satori cut her off.

"Ichirin Kumoi. Seems Unzan's getting drunk with the others, but you're trying to take Byakuren's advice to heart, so you're here instead. So where is 'here'? Myouren temple, I assume?"

Ichirin looked baffled. _But... the party was a secret... how did she know my name... or of Unzan... he's not even here_.

"You know about it, so I did. Don't worry, I probably won't tell Byakuren. You still haven't answered my question."

_Maybe if she let me get a word out_... Satori waited impatiently.

"Myouren temple, yes." Ichirin said.

"Thank you... how did I come to be here?" Satori asked, triggering a rather complicated series of events to play through Ichirin's mind as the woman tried to remember just what had happened. It seemed a yamabiko had heard and echoed the sound of Satori's screams, which worried Ichirin, who went out to find the source, retrieved Satori, and tended to her for three days, spending little time doing anything else.

When Ichirin had found Satori, Icihirin had been surprised Satori was even alive. Terrible frostbite blisters covered her skin, and she was soaked and almost naked, torn remnants of clothes caught in branches above, limbs shattered, torso bruised. No human could have survived long in that condition, she was sure. And Satori had been proving to be little more resilient than a human, hardly showing any signs of recovery over the past three days.

Satori, having followed this rapid string of thoughts in a very short time, spoke again.

"I see. My thanks for tending my wounds, then."

_How did she end up like this?_ "What in the world did-"

"This to me? Vampires, mostly. Oh, and the cuts are from my time as Yuuka's 'guest'." Satori said... and as much as she wished she could stop there... "And, after that, with three broken limbs, a concussion, the cuts you see, having lost a lot of blood, and after having been imprisoned, frozen, and soaked by Cirno, I dueled her and lost. That's where the slight bruise on my head came from."

Ichirin was surprised.

_Remilia? But she's been civil enough..._ "Who?"

"Remilia and her sister, as you suspect. The situation is... complicated, though." Satori sighed before continuing, though she was glad Ichirin hadn't pressed the issue with Cirno. "Do you know if Byakuren is in? I need to speak with her on a matter of great urgency."

Ichirin shook her head.

"Well, the sooner I talk with her, the better. It really is a high priority."

"After I tend your injuries and change your sheets, I'll see if I can get a message out. It's been busy here lately, though, so I'm not sure I'll be able to." Ichirin insisted.

"What? No, I'll be fine." Satori insisted, but Ichirin didn't delay in removing the sheets, exposing Satori's nude body, as she had done several times already. This was the first time Satori had been awake, though.

Satori merely gaped as she looked at her ruined form. It was little wonder she couldn't move. Getting her first good look since Flandre had launched her out of the mansion, Satori saw that her arm and legs were clearly broken in several places, and she could see where bone had once erupted through the muscle and skin. Horrific black blisters covered almost every inch of her skin, several now open and oozing with the removal of the covers, and her fingers and toes looked ready to fall off. This was after -three days- of recovery? She felt faint.

"I'm going to treat you. I may not be an expert healer, and you seem to be a rather weak youkai..." Ichirin started, Satori grimacing at being called weak again, difficult though it was to dispute in light of the evidence arrayed before her. "But you are a youkai... No human would have survived, let alone ever heal. Your spine has almost fully mended, though I suspect that's not a blessing considering the shape your legs are still in. Your broken ribs finally finished healing... but the frostbite isn't showing any signs of going away, and you won't be able to walk for a few more days, at least..." Ichirin was mostly rambling to herself.

Satori let her talk, still staring in disbelief at her shattered form. She had been hit... what, twice? Flandre knew her way around destruction, that was clear. Satori was beginning to realize just how lucky she had been to escape at all.

"I suppose it's a good thing most of the youkai around here are more or less human." Ichirin mused... Ichirin knew she wouldn't have been able to treat Satori's more serious injuries if she had been too different. Satori, of course, disagreed. If she weren't so human in form, she wouldn't be so injured in the first place.

Ichirin finally addressed Satori directly. "Are you that satori, then?" The question had been idling in the back of her mind for some time, now, though Satori only now realized it.

"'That' satori?"

_The one Byakuren mentioned a bit ago._ "The one who ran into Marisa?"

"You mean the one into whose house Marisa broke, intent on looting it bare, even while I stood there?"

_Wow... Marisa's that bad?_

Satori laughed, though it hurt, causing her to quickly stop. "You don't know the half of it. The other one... Reimu... wasn't much better. But yes, I'm that satori, though I'd hoped you met another. I've not met another of my kind for a long time now."

"What about your sister?"

Satori was stunned. Koishi... When was the last time she had even thought of her sister? She couldn't remember. She felt something deep within her, a vital connection to her... but Satori couldn't even remember her sister's face. Had she ever even seen it? Ever paid any attention to anything other than her mind?

"How? How do you know my sister?" Satori desperately asked, her mind too confused to pick it up from Ichirin right now.

"Oh, Koishi's been here at the temple for some time now."

"-What-!" Satori exclaimed, feeling something powerful driving her as she lifted herself up onto her left arm and prepared to vault out of her bed.

She got as far as putting her weight on the bad arm before blacking out from the sudden pain.

* * *

_**Late that Night**_

Satori awoke some time later. Night had fallen, and her room was almost black. Her good arm was free to move, and those fingers at least seemed function, if a bit other limbs had been put in a basic splint, presumably to prevent any more sudden movements. Her skin itched and stung at the same time... at least the headache seemed to have finally begun to fade.

What had awakened her, though, was the presence of another heart entering the room. A heart full of deceit, insecurity, and with an unstable identity, unable to truly find itself, but with neither desire nor need to do so. A heart Satori recognized immediately, so memorable was it. Satori did her best to continue to appear sleeping, but she started subtly gathering as much magical energy as she could.

For she sensed within that heart a murderous intent. Its owner wanted her dead. The greatest threat to its very existence had to be removed, regardless of the consequences. The heart feared, but with one simple action, it could remove that fear. It had reached Satori's bed. It thrust with killing intent at her, so it could once again become what it had always been meant to be.

Unknown.

Satori lashed her prepared hand out and channeled all the energy she had been storing into the trident she grabbed as raw electrical energy. The flash of lightning illuminated the girl dressed in a short black dress, her six tentacles flailing wildly at the shock, before blasting her into the far wall, the trident flung through it beside her.

"It's been a while, 'Nue Houjuu'."

_Shut up and die!_Satori still couldn't see, but Nue's heart was as open to her as anyone else's, and she could tell Nue was still off balance, still paralyzed from the shock, though swiftly recovering. Satori, now able to use her entire hand, no longer needing to feign sleep, was able to weave a far more complex and efficient spell. By the time Nue had recovered and lunged at Satori again, Satori was ready.

Satori met Nue's charge with a blinding beam that stripped away the darkness before cutting far deeper. Satori felt Nue begin to wither away under the assault. The Light of Truth was a spell she had learned ages ago. It's original purpose was merely to remove magical disguises and prove to others the truth behind them… requiring that truth to be known was a problem for the foolish magician who had developed it, but none at all for Satori. Barring that restriction, however, it was able to pierce anything Satori had ever come across. Even so, it had found hardly any use, until she had met Nue, the very essence of the unknown. It was anathema to Nue, and the pain, terror, and insecurity Nue felt as her very existence was being torn away under the beam stung Satori, but she kept up the purifying light regardless. Layer after layer of Nue's form vanished, stripped away by the abominable light.

"Stop it! Stop it, please!" Nue panicked, and, unable to move, while she was on the verge of disappearing forever, the light stopped. Nue's form slowly returned as she sobbed, tears spilling onto the ground as the form of a young girl reappeared, thoroughly defeated. Not Nue's true form, Satori knew, but one with which Nue was comfortable.

"I don't intend to reveal your true form, but you're making me rethink my decision." Satori said dryly. The light was a complicated spell with very limited usefulness, but it wasn't taxing at all to cast. Satori was ready for another round, but it looked like Nue had lost her thunder, though none of her loathing or hatred for Satori.

Satori recalled back to her earlier meeting with Nue. Nue had been an ancient youkai, completely unchallenged in her power, for she represented the most base fear of humans; the unknown. When Satori had read her heart the first time, she had been amazed at the length of Nue's life and the power at her disposal. She could control every other youkai she had met, and call on their powers and forms against humans. In a sense, she was any and all youkai, as suited her needs or desires. A true Queen of Youkai.

But Satori had been a first to Nue. The satori were born not out of the fear of the unknown, but an earnest desire to not merely explain it, but to understand it… to seek it out and expose it. In a sense, Satori's very purpose in existing was to hunt and destroy Nue. Nue had decided to take things into her own hands, and had snuck into Satori's home, ready to fight and kill Satori, having already done so to many other satori. Satori had exposed Nue's true form with her third eye, and used the Light of Truth, developed by a human, to defeat her... She realized just how much she owed that spell for saving her life... She had been the first satori to survive Nue's wrath.

As Satori now continued to read Nue's heart, that had been a turning point in Nue's life… the first time the unknown had lost, though not the last. As mankind continued to advance, the unknown became less and less, and Nue's power had weakened. And Nue knew that all she had to do to regain her former, unmatchable strength, was to strike down her rival… and Satori had no choice but to let Nue live. She had to let the unknown continue existing, for as much as Nue needed Satori dead, without Nue… without anything unknown to seek or explore, Satori herself believed her purpose would be realized and she would expire. It was a wretched dependence that Satori knew could only end when she did.

All this was represented by Nue's true form. Nue's true form was supposed to remain unknown… instead, it was in Satori's mind as well. Satori knew she may well hold in her mind the fate of not only Nue, but of nearly every youkai. Every one born of a mysterious phenomenon, a legend or explanation of an unknown phenomenon... all would vanish, or at least be severely weakened, only retaining the identities developed since birth if Nue disappeared… Nue, who had been their source. Satori, of course, had no intention of revealing Nue's true form, but Nue didn't understand. Satori doubted she could.

"Why won't you just give it up!" Nue howled.

"You know I can't." Satori replied honestly. Nue's true form was… complicated, but unforgettable. She also saw the rest of Nue's recent history… it seemed the geysers Utsuho had started had freed Nue and the other inhabitants of the temple, as well as the ship which had been ultimately been turned into it.

"Well, you could try non-identifying your heart... that may conceal it from my eye, but I'm not sure it would work, and I can't say I know what other ramifications there would be. That's your domain." Satori suggested. Nue merely hissed in reply, but quickly and suddenly put on a different face as she heard someone running down the hall.

Ichirin burst into the room, carrying a lantern. _What's going on? _"Are you alright, Satori?" Ichirin indicated the hole in the wall. "Nue's trident nearly took off Unzan's head... well, in a manner of speaking." Ichirin looked at Nue. "Good thing you were here to stop whatever attacked her." Ichirin clearly had complete trust in Nue as a fellow disciple. Nue clearly had every intent to warp this trust to her own ends, and indeed had been doing so for quite some time.

"She wasn't here to-" Satori started,

"I know, good, thing, ri-" Nue did likewise at the same time. They paused and glared at each other. Ichirin looked between them, confused. _Are they alright?_

"What happened, though?"

"I was attacked by-" Satori started.

"A monster. Its killing blow would have landed on Satori if not for me." Nue finished for her. Technically true… if Nue hadn't had her specific weakness, Satori probably would have died… Still, Ichirin was obviously not picking up on the exact meaning, and Satori was about to correct her thinking.

"Nue tried killing me." Satori's explanation was much less tactful. Nue's mind overflowed with loathing towards Satori, though not even a shadow of it crossed her face. Satori began to feel a bit sick under the mental assault.

Ichirin was willing to believe Satori, but only somewhat. "You must have gotten confused." Ichirin's mind was suggesting that Satori had awakened disoriented and sickened, seen some sort of blur that included Nue and some other monster coming towards her, and thought Nue had attacked her. "Nue wouldn't hurt someone housed in the temple. Well, not seriously, anyway." _Though she pranks way too much… doesn't really follow an ascetic lifestyle… I suppose few of us really do, though._

Ichirin looked over Satori, and convinced Satori was shaken but uninjured, examined Nue next.

_Seems she had a rough time with it._"Goodness. Whatever it was really did a number on you. It's a miracle you showed up when you did or Satori really -would- have died. Come along, I'll fix you up."

Ichirin led a quietly sobbing Nue out the door, oblivious to her thoughts and their effect on Satori… Every fiber of Nue's being still wordlessly called out for Satori's death, yearned for it more than any other heart Satori had ever read had yearned for anything.

Satori called out after the pair... she felt a contract pulling at her to do so... and though she never thought she'd be happy to admit this...

"Well, thanks for your help... I mean, even the ice fairy of the lake was able to beat me in my current condition."

Even Ichirin noticed -something- was odd when Nue's rage and hatred flared up tenfold, drowning out her words and thoughts, her sobbing act suddenly stopping as she turned to Satori and delivered a look so cold Satori could swear the air between them froze.

Satori smiled happily back and waved as Ichirin tugged Nue along.

* * *

_**Early Next Morning...**_

Satori drifted back to sleep after a few hours. She was awakened as the suns rays hit her face. A few minutes later, Ichirin entered the room. Well, that wasn't quite true.

It certainly seemed to be Ichirin to two of Satori's eyes. To her third, however, the tanuki's true form was revealed. It appeared she went by Mamizou… seemed to be friends with Nue, was here to do a favor for Nue in exchange for… wow… quite a lot of money. Satori wasn't the least bit surprised at what the little favor was. It seemed she favored poison, but had a few backup plans already in place.

"Hello! You're looking a bit better today!" 'Ichirin' said.

"You're not fooling me, Mamizou." Satori declared, and the tanuki's eyes popped up under the disguise's hood, her tail blooming out behind her. She had obviously not been expecting her ruse to be broken so easily. Satori continued.

"You've been offered a lot by Nue, however-… well, yes, she -can- pay it, but-" Satori said, answering Mamizou's unasked question. She realized immediately that this was a mistake. The tanuki's mercenary heart leapt in joy as she rushed at Satori with murderous intent.

Satori quickly channeled a basic spell, and braced herself before firing it off with all the magic she could muster so quickly. Mamizou was in the middle of diving at Satori when the spell finished.

An ear piercing shriek erupted from Satori. Mamizou lost her momentum… she still landed on Satori, but instead of striking Satori, Mamizou merely landed heavily, clutching her ears in pain. Satori felt this pain, and coupled with her own (for she was not immune to the wailing sound), it took all of her focus to maintain it. Even then, after about a minute, she could stand it no longer, and the spell faded, Mamizou was lying on Satori, having fallen unconscious shortly before Satori had surrendered her hold on the spell.

Thankfully, several others showed up in quick order, having heard the loud noise. There was Ichirin's familiar presence, along with Unzan… Satori realized Unzan generally spent most of his time near Ichirin, but had been nervous about being near the nude Satori, so he had generally waited outside while Ichirin had treated her wounds.

In addition to these two, A tiger youkai appeared moments later… Shou Toramaru, apparently an avatar of Bishamonten, and her heart was a flexible one… her personality likely seemed unstable to others, but it was just her changing to fit the mood. She had gone through many changes in her past, and was now able to adapt very well; Her identity was quite secure despite this flexibility. Shou currently had every intent of using her pagoda to fry whoever had caused her to wake up to the -worst- hangover ever (In Shou's mind… Satori wasn't impressed; she'd been around a sober oni before), with the loudest, most annoying sound she could imagine. Satori was suddenly a lot less inclined to admit that she had called them here deliberately.

"What is going on!" Shou roared into the room. Ichirin winced, and turned to the tiger youkai, a bit afraid.

_I think that monster attacked Satori again._Ichirin was thinking.

Satori corrected her. "It was Mamizou this time."

_First Nue, now Mamizou?_"I don't think you trust us very much…"

"They keep trying to kill me!" Satori exclaimed.

"Silence!" Shou's voice silenced everyone else in the room and made Satori's ears, still ringing, ache for silence… which filled the room for a few moments. Shou spoke again, firmly but loudly.

"Whatever the source of the problem, I'm thinking we can't…." _Wait, three eyes… Is that a satori?_ "Keep you… here…" Shou seemed to be losing momentum. _It is! Then… does she… know Koishi? _Satori sat upright again, and Ichirin began moving towards her to calm her down. Satori realized Ichirin thought she would injure herself again, but Satori waved her down calmly with one hand.

"I won't be doing that again, don't worry. But yes, I do know my sister. I am given to understand that this is where she has been?"

"Yes… Well, I think." Shou struggled to recall, and had an image of Satori, but with yellow and green rather than Satori's pink and blue…. not terribly far off, but not a clear memory. Ichirin and Unzan each had slightly different images, but again, they seemed to think of Koishi primarily as her colors than as her face.

"That's her… probably." Satori confirmed, and the three looked amongst each other, a common thought in their minds. _She really can read minds, can't she? I should probably tell Byakuren…_

"Yes, please do. I must speak with her… And I'd rather leave as soon as possible, before Nue or Mamizou try to kill me again. Or any of you for that matter."

_Why would we want to kill you? _

"Nue's got a way with words. She'd find a way to make you want me dead."

Ichirin seemed to disagree, but Shou was willing to believe her… _Never really trusted the rascal. _"Alright, I'll bring Byakuren here. It will take a while, though, she's currently at the human village, and may not be able to leave for a while."

Satori groaned. "Of course. Nothing can ever be that easy. It's appreciated, though."

Ichirin approached Satori and carefully put a now calmly sleeping Mamizou on the ground.

"Actually, I'd prefer if you moved her out of here. She still has some explosives and potent toxins on her… more than a few are on a timer that's already been activated. Go ahead and put her in a secluded room or something so she can reap her own rewards."

Ichirin lifted an eyebrow at Satori, but began going through Mamizou's clothes. She found five small balls. "There are 10… she's got a couple hidden in her tail…" Satori guided Ichirin to find the rest.

_What are these?_

"I already told you. She was trying to kill me. Go ahead and put those in an empty room; they'll go off soon assuming she doesn't disarm them. Just stay out of that room for a good… day or so. The toxins should lose their potency by then."

Ichirin carefully rushed out of the room, leaving Unzan (Who had been quietly dozing) behind to watch Mamizou.

Unzan's heart was one of… not blind devotion and loyalty as Sakuya's had been, but true friendship. He was bound to Ichirin not through duty, but through respect. It seemed the feeling was mutual, and their level of connection made Satori a little envious. Apart from that, it was the heart of a shy old man... almost more human than youkai... it seemed Ichirin had rubbed off on him.

Unzan was looking disappointed at Mamizou. _Probably got bribed… That desire for money is going to get out of hand some day._

"She was hired, yes. Nue offered her a sizable sum to take me out." Satori explained, causing Unzan to withdraw slightly as he looked towards her for the first time since Koishi had been mentioned.

_Oh dear! My apologies. _He muttered something under his breath. Satori was confused before she realized that she was sitting up in bed and the blanket had fallen to her waist. She laid back down and covered herself again, feeling Unzan's embarrassment as well as her own.

Ichirin returned to the room to see the two nervously averting their eyes from the other, faces flushed. She was momentarily confused, but quickly correctly guessed what had happened.

_Well, I got rid of those things Mamizou had._ "Sorry about that, Unzan. You can go ahead and take Mamizou to another room to sleep. I need to treat Satori some more."

Unzan wasted no time in grabbing Mamizou and fleeing the room. Ichirin, meanwhile, uncovered Satori and shook her head.

"I don't understand. These cuts are healing too slowly. Even magician youkai heal faster than this. I'd think you were human if you weren't so obviously not… Are you -sure- they aren't from a powerful youkai or something?"

Satori shook her head "Well, some of them are from Yuuka's vines, but most were from those branches..."

Then it struck Satori… Alice's words from a few days ago… _"Then my fate will be as theirs."_Alice had bound herself, Marisa, and Satori's fates together… then she remembered the wide gashes Yuuka's thorned vines had opened in Marisa… and Alice's bruised battered form… whose only limb that had avoided being mangled was... her right arm.

Satori's curses over the next minute were quite imaginative, and Ichirin merely looked on, confused. _What? What did I say? Does it hurt more?_

Satori eventually calmed back down. "It all makes sense now. I need someone to deliver a message to Alice Margatroid."

_Who is that?_"Who is-"

"A witch who lives in the Forest of Magic."

_But isn't that Marisa? _"Do you mean-"

"No, I mean Alice…" Satori conjured up an image of the witch. "Who else might know where she lives?"

_Wouldn't Reimu know? She seems familiar with everyone in the area._"You could ask-"

"Reimu's not at the shrine. Heaven only knows where she is right now. The fairies at her shrine know where Alice lives, but it'd take someone with special senses to even catch them."

_No one like that here… maybe Byakuren, but she's not here. And Nazrin can really only find treasure._

Satori's mind raced… She knew a spell that could reach Alice, but...

"Bring me outside. I need to cast a spell."

"In your condition? No way." _The last thing you need is -more- frostbite._

Satori subtly cast a spell to change the lighting in the room, causing shadows to dance hypnotically, and repeated her request. Ichirin was caught mentally off guard...

"Bring me outside."

"I suppose it might do you some good to stretch your magic and fly around, get some fresh air. You should probably wear something, though, its still quite cold outside… and I can't let you be out for long." Ichirin left the room for a while, and Satori used the opportunity to write a letter.

Ichirin returned holding a plain, loose, warm robe. She handed it to Satori to protect her modesty and skin. She carefully donned it, resting her third eye on the low collar, and though her shoulder ached, she understood Ichirin wouldn't be willing to let her go out without it, in order to protect Unzan's delicate sensibilities. Satori couldn't get her arms through the sleeves, but it was a functional cloak, at least.

Satori hovered out of the room behind Ichirin.

* * *

_**At the entrance to Myouren temple**_

It was snowing, but no matter. Satori immediately began working. Now that she had some time to properly prepare, as well as some minor experience in space manipulation, she was far more confident… It also helped that her life wasn't on the line from three different perspectives, either.

She pulled her magic together while lying on the snowy ground, Ichirin looking concerned in the distance. Satori reached out with her magic towards Alice, and rolled back the intervening space. Sure enough, she soon had a small gate to Alice's house. She picked up and threw a snowball through it, hitting a window. Ichirin was shocked.

"What are you doing!" Ichirin moved towards Satori _Has she gone mad? What.. -is- that?_

"I'm getting help. Please don't distract me… if I lose control of this effect, it could be disastrous." Satori was telling the truth… if the effect were undone prematurely, it may cause the entire intervening space to be lost forever. Satori was confident of her strength though, and she had set up wards to carefully release the space held back into reality if she -did- fall unconscious, but they weren't exactly well tested, and she'd rather not do so when a large part of Gensokyo was at stake.

Ichirin backed away, suddenly nervous. On the other side of the gate, Reisen opened the door, an angry look on her face that rapidly changed to surprise and stared at the gate. Satori called through:

"Reisen, come over here. Don't step through the gate, just up to it. I need to give you something."

Reisen nodded very nervously as she approached. _What on earth happened to her? She looks as bad off as Alice and Marisa. _Satori was somewhat surprised she could hear Reisen's thoughts. Well, she supposed the spell -did- work by compressing space… so they were just as far apart as they seemed now, Satori lying on the ground, nearly at Reisen's feet.

"You won't believe what I've had to go through! Those two are terrible patients!" Reisen was recalling desperately looking for them during a snowstorm, finding them, but now she had to treat terrible frostburn as well. To make matters even worse, a tree had fallen on Marisa, crushing most of her limbs, and Alice had followed after her, barely fending off a large youkai to defend her, despite her sole functioning limb, though it had scored some terrible hits on Alice, whose skin was now badly shredded... nearly as badly as Marisa's.

"Everything's going wrong…" _What am I doing wrong…_

Satori handed the note through the gate. "Read this. It will explain the situation and have a proposed solution. I just wish we could coordinate it better. The situation here is complicated and I might not be able to meet the times I suggest."

"Oh! Hold on, Alice had some dolls…" Reisen ran inside the house. It seemed some of Alice's dolls allowed remote… ah yes. Satori recalled now… Marisa had used some when she had first met Satori. Reisen swiftly returned.

"Good thinking. Contact me when you're ready, then."

Reisen was unsure of just what that entailed, but Satori merely said.

"It's in the letter." Then she eased back the effect, storing the doll away, and the gate vanished, slowly rippling away into nothing. She lowered her head with a thump. She was regretting not learning any communication spells from all those magicians she had met. Satori had thought she would never need them, but warping space to deliver a simple message was proving to be far, far too taxing… she had used up almost her entire reserve of magic.

"Could you… um… carry me back? I don't think I have enough energy left to fly."

Ichirin was flustered. "This is the last time I'm letting you out of bed until you're healed." _What in the world was I thinking?_

Satori started to shrug, but the pain made her stop. "Fair enough. You should start noticing an improvement soon enough."

* * *

_**Author's Notes**_

So, I ended up cutting this chapter up into this and the next.. and a bit of the next... it was a bit long.

Also, thanks to Dead Turtle for suggesting I add scene breaks. I was getting a bit confused myself about the timeframe especially, so that should be cleared up a bit now. For some reason, I hadn't thought of it. Things like this make me glad I didn't pre-write everything.

And, of course, thank you to everyone who's read this far, and anyone who's provided feedback.


	7. Chapter 7

_**The Bamboo Forest of the Lost, near Eientei, Two Days Ago**_

Reisen landed softly. The Lunar Veil had guided her back to Eientei well, it seemed. She just hoped she was in time... the situation on the moon had been really bad. Thankfully, Toyohime had sent her as a messenger instead of making her fight... she was still unused to combat. The Lunar Veil was slow, but it was the only way they could be sure she got away without drawing attention from the extradimensional invaders. Toyohime seemed worried they may have been able to intercept her teleportation if there were any demons around... and of course, by that point, they were all throughout the Lunar Capital. Reisen packed away the Lunar Veil and looked around. She saw Eientei and moved towards it.

As she approached, she noticed a pair of trails in the snow. One was a pair which approached the front door of Eientei, while the other was a single person who left it and headed... somewhere. The second one was most peculiar... it seemed as though someone were running, but only ever managed to get 60 feet or before stumbling to the ground... they must be even more clumsy than she was.

She reached the gate, and noticed something was wrong with Eientei itself... It was far, far too quiet... it seemed lifeless. She saw a note on the gate... and decided to heed its warning. She turned away from the gate and stumbled over something immediately. Rummaging around in the snow, she found the source of her trouble, and panic flooded her mind...

She held Toyohime's fan in her trembling hands. She looked around, and decided that whatever had defeated Toyohime was nowhere to be seen... she assumed that the frequently falling figure was Toyohime after... whatever had made her drop the fan... she hurried after it. First, though, she made a call, speaking as she sent her thoughts out and followed the obvious trail.

"Reisen! What's going on at Eientei! The place is all weird, and Toyohime's missing, and..."

_Calm down. Who is this? _

"It's Reisen. Toyohime sent me down here to get help from Eirin, but something's all wrong."

_Oh, right, you. Anyway, I'm a little busy. Eirin managed to get herself poisoned, and I've been working on a remedy for it. What's this about Toyohime, though? And what news from the front?_

"I was nearing Eientei... and... and I found Toyohime's fan-"

_You -WHAT-!_ The distant rabbit's mind screamed in panic.

"I was just looking for Eirin and I stumbled over it and oh gods what does it mean! I don't know what to do!"

_Ok... first... don't tell anyone you have it. Uh... Well, other than me, of course... you already did. No one else, though! Were... were there any clues what happened to her?_

"Well, I think I found her trail going into Eientei-"

_Oh no... don't tell me she went inside... I put the note there for a reason!_

"Well, the note kept me out, but it looks like she went inside... or it might have been whoever she was with... probably Yorihime?"

_Oh no... if Medicine got her..._

"Well, but there was another trail leading out... I mean, it's probably Toyohime's or Yorihime's, but it's really weird... like they kept falling down. I mean I'm kinda clumsy, but they -never- fall down.."

_Try and follow it... but... only one? Perhaps one of them succumbed? But... wait, that means one -is- resisting the poison! -Yes!- I knew they'd manage! Medicine Melancholy's going to be living up to the second part of her name when we get through with her! Eirin and Kaguya must have been effected because they were on earth so long. Nothing can overcome the purity of the moon!_ The distant rabbit's excitement and pride were clear, and rather contagious.

"Right! I'll find whoever got away and help them out! Where are you?"

_I'm in the Forest of Magic, at Alice's house. You should be able to find a guide at the human village... that's a ways northeast of Eientei. You should be able to get there... soon enough. Let me know if you get any directions. Oh, and I'm still trying not to contact many rabbits on the moon, so if you could check up on how the war's going with the other rabbits, I'd appreciate it?_

"Okay. I'll see you soon, then. I'll let you know what I find out. Seems the trail's going in that direction too, so they're probably heading there themselves for whatever reason."

Reisen broke the mental connection and directed her thoughts upward towards the moon as she spoke again.

"Hello? How's the war going? Any luck?" No response. Odd.

"Anyone? Come on, it's Reisen... remember me? I work for the Watatsuki sisters?" Reisen begged.

Worry gnawed at her.

"Come in? Please? Hello? The moon is made of noodles?" The last one had always elicted a mental chuckle at least... a punchline to a funny joke they all shared. But there was nothing... And Reisen knew why it felt suspiciously like she was talking to herself, instead of the rabbits living on the moon... could think of only one reason they might not respond. Reisen, the Watatsuki sisters' newest pet staggered and fell into the snow, trying her hardest not to cry, and failing.

There -were- no more rabbits living on the moon.

* * *

**_Meanwhile, in the Netherworld_**

Yorihime had ceased crying as she was poured yet another bit of tea, but she was still quiet, sitting at the kotatsu the three were sharing inside Hakugyokurou. Reimu shot Yuyuko a glance, then addressed Yorihime.

"Look, Whatever happened is over. You're fine, now, right? We'll just swap tales, alright?"

"It hurt…" Yorihime finally spoke. Reimu cocked her head and asked again... This was not the Yorihime she remembered, bristling with confidence and authority.

"What does? How you died?"

Yorihime looked at Reimu. "Am I dead? I suppose I must be… nothing can survive that weapon…" A stray tear rolled down her cheek.

Reimu looked in exasperation to Yuyuko, but Yuyuko paid Reimu little mind, continuing to sip her tea.

"What is she talking about?" Reimu asked. Yuyuko looked to Reimu.

"Shouldn't you be asking her that? Or thinking about it for yourself?" Reimu had trouble keeping herself under control, but she managed to to turn back to Yorihime.

"What attack? Who did what? Come on, I'm dying to know."

"You're already dead." Yuyuko said nonchalantly. Reimu ignored her.

"The fan… we had to use the fan… Everything… gone." Yorihime seemed to still be having difficulty coping. Reimu turned to Yuyuko, but found her absent. She shrugged. She wasn't getting anything out of the ghost princess anyway.

"What fan? What does it do?"

"It destroys things... to the atomic... level. A perfect... swift, merciful... annihilation... So we thought." Yorihime said between sobs.

"The what level now?"

"Never mind... you wouldn't understand... but… we thought it painless. Turns out… that wasn't true." Yorihime winced again at the still fresh memory. "At least… At least Shinki died, too. Maybe it was worth it, then… maybe… it was worth it…" Yorihime turned back into a sobbing wreck again.

Yuyuko came in with a man Reimu didn't recognize and gestured to Reimu that they should leave. He was wearing Lunarian garb, and wore a tortured expression and tears still wet on his face showed that he had been having a difficult time as well, but when he saw Yorihime, he stopped in disbelief.

Reimu took the opportunity to leave quietly, as the man rushed to Yorihime and embraced her compassionately.

"I never thought I'd see you again. You weren't with the others, so I thought..." He squeezed tighter, and Yorihime looked up at him, then returned the embrace. They cried into each others' arms as Reimu and Yuyuko left.

"Who was that man?"

Yuyuko chastised her. "Think about it. They had little ability to meet while on the moon, despite a deep connection with one another, but still cared deeply for eachother." Reimu thought, and when the answer dawned on her, she blushed a bit. Yuyuko smiled sadly.

"What a tragic fate for such a sweet couple."

* * *

_**Two Days Later, Several Miles From the Human Village**_

Mokou staggered along. It was wearisome and tedious, the frequent deaths, punctuated by large bouts of agony, but she was nearly there... nearly at the human village. She died once again, and as she waited for her body to reform, she noticed a rabbit near her... it looked like that pet rabbit of Kaguya's, and it seemed she was following Mokou's trail. She decided it would be better to meet her here than cause trouble in the village if it came to that... with the frequent resurrections, Mokou's wouldn't be able to outpace her.

As she reentered yet another new body, she turned to the rabbit.

"You there, what do you want?"

The rabbit panicked and moved to hide... but then it saw Toyohime.

"What have you done to her!" The rabbit shouted.

"I'm getting her help! I know someone in the village who might be able to help." This seemed to comfort the rabbit who meekly approached.

"I'm Reisen... I'll do what I can to help."

"Yeah, I remember you. I'm Mokou, now... come... Eagh... not again." Mokou started to spasm, and collapsed to the ground. Reisen skittered away, unsure of what to do. Even more so when Mokou's body turned to ash in front of her. She nearly bolted when she looked up towards Toyohime to see Mokou fine and healthy once again, lifting Toyohime's limp form into her arms.

"Well, are you coming or not, Reisen?" Mokou said, sprinting towards the village. Reisen followed, though failed to keep up... until she saw Mokou once again fall over, dead... reappear next to Toyohime, and resume her sprint. Reisen couldn't believe what she was seeing. And... had they met before? Reisen was sure they hadn't, but Mokou seemed confident they had.

* * *

_**At School in the Human Village, the Next Day**_

Keine was teaching her class about the Great Suwa War. Given the recent appearance and influence of some notable figures that were involved in it, she thought it best to include it in the curriculum. The class, of course, didn't seem to care, but she continued anyway. She would punish them for failure, not apathy. She was currently writing a timeline of the events on the chalkboard when the sound of a window slamming open caught her attention. Sure one of her students was trying to escape again, she turned...

And saw Mokou stumbling into the room, carrying a woman that appeared unconscious on her back. A rabbit youkai followed soon after, which cued every one of her students to move away slightly. The slight edging away turned into a blind panic when Mokou fell over, her body spasming and knocking desks around, before falling dead, her body soon turning to ash. The children had all fled by the time Mokou's body reformed a short while later.

"Mokou! I've told you not to interrupt-"

"Don't have much time, poison, need treatment, Eirin's not an option, other ones?" Mokou spoke fast.

"I... what... well are... you alright?" Keine staggered. Mokou was clearly exerting herself.

"No, I'm not, just answer the question." Mokou again spoke as fast as she could, nearly stumbling over the words.

"Well, she has an apprentice... you could try and get in touch with her... wait, isn't that her?"

Mokou looked at the rabbit youkai next to her, who looked confused.

"Who, me? No, I... Oh! You must have mistaken me for ummm... Udonge? I just talked with her though... she's in the forest of magic, tending Eirin at the home of someone named Alice." Reisen dutifully recited.

Mokou seemed about to say something, but her body went into spasms again. Keine rushed to her side.

"Mokou! Mokou!" Keine shook Mokou, trying to keeper her gaze focused, but could do nothing as Mokou died once again. Keine turned to the rabbit.

"What's going on?" she demanded, but the rabbit youkai was too intimidated by Keine to fully answer... The silence weighed heavy in the room until Mokou broke it.

"Eientei's been poisoned, badly. Do you know the way to Alice's house, Keine?" Keine nodded and replied.

"I'll take you there... I doubt I'll be able to get them back under control after this, anyway." Keine wrote a note, wincing as Mokou died once again as she finished.

"The poison's really that fatal?" Keine asked as she approached the door to leave a note saying she was out. "How is she still alive, then?" Keine indicated Toyohime's apparently unconscious form.

Mokou replied. "No... not fatal. Death just hurts a helluva lot less. After this whole thing is done, you should probably strike the whole event from records... this isn't the sort of thing that should ever have existed..." Mokou said as she started out the window, having one again picked up Toyohime. The rabbit youkai followed mokou, and Keine, though she felt foolish for using the window instead of a door, did the same.

"At least let me carry her." Keine asked, and Mokou nodded, dropping Toyohime. Keine picked her up and headed off in towards Alice's house.

"And just keep moving. I should be able to keep up if I'm not carrying her... the sooner we get there, the better." Mokou said as she sprinted, falling down in agony just after finishing her sentence.

* * *

_**At Alice's House**_

Reisen stepped inside and unfolded the letter she had received from Satori moments ago, reading it carefully, trying her best to ignore the moans from Marisa's room.

'When we fought Yuuka, Alice bound the fates of herself, myself, and Marisa together. Given my injuries, I suspect their conditions have worsened substantially. Furthermore, Marisa's human levels of healing are holding us all back. As long as we all remain thus bound, it will be very difficult to heal us. I need you to go to the Scarlet Devil Mansion a few days from now…'

The rest of the note held rather specific directions, but if Reisen had learned one thing during her time under Eirin, it was how to follow directions. She hated leaving behind the other residents of Eientei, but she wouldn't be able to help them on her own, anyway. Fortunately, that didn't end up being a problem for long.

As she was pondering how to move her badly wounded patients, there was a knock on the door. She got up to answer it. Reisen recognized the half ghost in her normal white blouse, green vest, and green skirt immediately.

"What are you doing here, Youmu?" Their previous encounters had been strained, but they held a healthy respect for each other.

"I'm trying to find out why the Netherworld's getting so crowded suddenly. More and more ghosts just keep filling up the place." Youmu replied, "Yuyuko thinks it's nothing, but I'm not so sure... I've been asking around, and I think something huge is happening."

"Well, I can fill you in on the details, but you'll have to do a favor for me. Come inside." Reisen opened the door wide, and beckoned for Youmu to follow. Youmu closed the door behind her as she entered and saw corpses strewn about the house. She was suddenly very nervous.

"Why do you have dead bodies all over the place? And where's Alice? I thought this was her house... what are -you- doing here, anyway?"

"They aren't dead... Look, I said I'd explain, but I really need to teach you how to keep this process going while I take Alice out to be treated... Satori had a good idea that might work."

"Who? Treat her for what? What process? What's going on?" Youmu was very easily confused... Reisen almost missed speaking with Satori... at least she never asked so many questions. Reisen began the long explanation of current events as she showed Youmu how to continue the remedy's production.

* * *

_**A Few Hours Later**_

Reisen had just finished explaining the situation to Youmu. They now had some stretchers prepared and were about to head out, when Reisen heard another knock at the door.

"Is Satori back already...? No... she can't be healed yet if what she said is right..." Reisen wondered as she went to the door and opened it, revealing Mokou, Reisen, and Keine, who was carrying Toyohime.

Mokou looked confused for a second, looking between the two lunar rabbits, before falling over.

Reisen rushed to her, to see if she needed treatment, but before she even worked her way over to the fallen figure, it had turned to ash. Eirin's apprentice staggered back, but Keine comforted her.

"Don't worry. She'll be back... but she needs to keep doing that to avoid this poison." Keine looked pointedly over her back at the woman she was carrying."

"They went into Eientei... right?"

"That's what it sounds like from what... Reisen..." Both Reisen's turned at the sound of their name said. "said. You know, this is going to get really confusing..."

Eirin's apprentice offered a solution. "Go ahead and call me Udonge, then. It's what I've been going by at Eientei most of the time..." Keine nodded.

"Anyway, Reisen says she came from the moon to get Eirin's help... but apparently that's not going to happen?"

"Not any time soon, no. She's in the same state as Toyohime there... Where's Yorihime, though? Still on the moon, fighting?"

Reisen looked nervous, but answered after a few moments. "Ummm... I don't think so. I... I think we lost... Which... which means..." She started to tear up. Udonge simply stood numb... And she heard from a nearby room.

"I told you it was the only outcome possible..." Alice's voice carried into the room, continuing with "I think we should plan to move everyone over to the Scarlet Devil Mansion. My house was made for myself, and a few guests. Not a dozen people, half of whom aren't even able to stand."

Udonge was staring daggers through the walls, Reisen was sobbing, Keine was still looking somewhat confused, Youmu was looking over Eirin and Kaguya, who lie on the ground... Mokou had resurrected and was impatient to get moving -somewhere-, Tewi, Alice, and Marisa were crammed into Alice's room...

Udonge couldn't help but agree that it was getting a little crowded. "Alright. Let's get moving, then." She could join Reisen in her grieving when they had the time. Right now, Udonge had some lives to save.

* * *

_**At the Scarlet Devil Mansion**_

Meiling stood at the gate, patiently meditating, focusing on the Qi fields around the mansion. There were the normal fairies, of course, though with Meiling's help, their auras were temporarily far more stable than a normal fairy's. They had proved far more capable as a result of Meiling's manipulation, and their new efficiency was a godsend, considering Sakuya's current state.

In fact, Meiling would have to thank Satori for helping her realize that she could effect the auras of others. Yes, she'd have to thank her, but she wouldn't have to like it… It was, after all, just as much her fault that Sakuya was out of commission to begin with. Whatever Satori had done with Flandre, it had made the mansion a mess, lately. The mistress had calmed things down recently, and apart from Sakuya's serious trauma, everything was back to normal.

Meiling couldn't help but frown a bit at that. When she had healed Sakuya, it had taken almost everything she had at the time just to stabilize her physically. Her mind was a mess, and her body still weak… She had never expected to be attacked so viciously by the young mistress. Remilia had sworn Flandre would be peaceful towards them, and she had been... until the satori came. The attack had shaken Sakuya's faith in the mistress, causing her aura to waver dangerously... it was odd, but there was no doubt Sakuya was having a difficult time of things. Meiling had been paying regular visits to Sakuya to try and stabilize her mood, but it was a difficult task with few signs of success, and taxing, besides.

She noticed a large aura… no… several… many smaller ones approaching the mansion. Meiling watched as the motley band approached. While she might normally be worried at taking on so many, they seemed weak, weary, and worn… Even outnumbered eleven to one, she could probably manage against them.

She opened her eyes and stood at attention as she waited for them to arrive. It seemed one of them died en route… no… that can't be right… there were still eleven of them… She waited, confused. When the group finally did arrive, her confidence only grew.

Of the eleven, four were unconscious… their auras indicated a tremendous amount of pain and instability. It was a miracle any of them were alive, so distant and withdrawn were their life forces. One more kept… dying… Meiling wasn't sure what to make of it… perhaps it was one of the immortals she'd heard about, or a phoenix youkai, but the woman clearly would be little threat in a fight.

Of the remaining six, two were terribly crippled. They were heavily covered in thick sheets and splints, but Meiling could tell they were on the verge of death… limbs shattered, faces covered with terrible frostburn and cuts. That left four… one of which was a rabbit youkai who clearly lacked any combat experience, given her stance and the instability of her aura. The other rabbit youkai seemed to be the leader of the group, if it could be said to have one, and seemed like she may actually be a threat.

Finally, she actually recognized the last two easily. Keine from the human village, who wouldn't fight her without a good reason, and Youmu, the gardener and swordmaster from the Netherworld. She was potential trouble… even so, two against one were far better odds than she could expect.

"What brings you here? I don't believe there's a party scheduled." Meiling inquired.

It was the more confident rabbit youkai that spoke up… Actually, Meiling recognized the Lunar rabbit, now. Eirin's delivery girl…

"We request lodgings… we have a number of patients…" Udonge indicated the crowd of incapacitated people. "Who need treatment, and we thought the mansion would be big enough? So… could we get them set up here? We can pay in medicine or treatment..."

Meiling considered. "I can't make any promises, but I'll see what the mistress thinks." Meiling called a nearby fairy, and used her own Qi to steady the fairy's, resulting in a rather lucid servant, ready to receive an order.

"I need you to go fetch the mistress. We've got people requesting room and board, and they're offering to pay."

The fairy nodded and went off.

"Are you sure that will work? Fairies aren't very good messengers, and that was a pretty complicated message."

Meiling now knew what it must have been like, being Satori a few days ago. She smugly smiled.

"Wait and see. Anyway, I think the mistress will be willing to entertain some guests, though recent events may have reduced that willingness. At least you aren't Marisa, trying to break in again. I'm getting sick of her."

"Actually, Marisa's one of the patients…" Udonge gestured towards one of the blond, horribly maimed people. Meiling approached, and had to look for a while before recognizing the face through the blisters and wounds.

"What on earth happened to her!"

"Ummm… to shorten the story, I don't think going to the Garden of the Sun is a very good idea."

Keine sighed. "Anyone from the village wknows that. Yuuka's got a bit of a reputation there. It sounds like it's justified."

Meiling shrugged. She had heard about Yuuka… given all she'd heard, Meiling was happy their paths had never crossed. It sounded like she'd be as likely to praise Meiling for her care of her garden as she would be to use Meiling's body to fertilize it.

"I'll try and remember that. What about the others? Something's wrong with them…"

"Poison. Really, really awful poison." Udonge's own aura was quivering at the mere thought of it… given what it was doing to those affected, Meiling felt chills run down her own spine.

The door to the mansion opened, and Remilia walked out with a parasol, appearing dignified and calm… Meiling could sense she was concealing anger, and hoped it was just a general sort and not directed at Meiling for the interruption.

"Oh my. Quite a few more than I was expecting. You wish to rest here, I understand?" Remilia said calmly and cheerfully.

Udonge once again spoke for the group, though her expression was one of surprise. Meiling couldn't suppress her smile.

"Yes… We can pay you, in supplies or money, but we do need a place where we can rest. Please?"

"Sure, I suppose, I'll have Sakuya…" Remilia paused, and Meiling felt the suppressed anger surging, almost threatening Remilia's calm facade. Probably not directed against Meiling, then… that's good.

"That is, I'll take you there myself. Come along."

* * *

Remilia led them into and through the house, pointing out various doors. "That leads to Flandre's room. Don't open that door without my express permission. She values her privacy more than your life…. There's the door to the library. If you need resources from it, you're welcome to try and get them. Just tell Patchy what you need and force her to help you if you can, and she'll do it…"

"Here are your rooms…" Remilia had turned down a hall which contained a few dozen doors. "This is the guest wing… don't cause any damage, and we should be just fine. Now, I'll discuss payment with your leader…" Remilia looked to Udonge, who nervously looked at Keine and Youmu, who both shrugged back, before Youmu replied.

"I can come along if you'd like, but you know what we have to barter better than I do, and it would be rude to leave Keine, Reisen, and…" Mokou's body had just fallen and crumbled into ash again. "Mokou alone to settle all the wounded in."

Udonge gulped and nodded. "I'll.. see you all soon then…" She sincerely hoped she was speaking the truth.

Remilia smiled politely "Come along, then. We have some things to discuss."

* * *

_**A Private Room in the Scarlet Devil Mansion**_

Remilia sat down in her chair and gestured for Udonge to take a seat. After she did so, Remilia gestured at the door and used a simple spell to close it… and bar it.. and lock each of the three locks, before turning to a suddenly more concerned Udonge.

"Why are you here?"

"I… told you… we have patients…"

"Why are you -here-? Why my mansion, instead of the temple, or the human village, or the mountain? There are plenty of places you could have gone, so why -here-?" Remilia seemed merely curious.

"Well, Marisa and Alice… the two badly injured ones… They're bound to another through a spellcard contract… and the contract needs to be broken before they can be healed… Satori's-"

"-WHAT-!" Remilia's composure dropped in a moment, and before Udonge could even move, Remilia was standing on the table, hand grasped tight around Udonge's throat, pinning her to the chair.

"-What does that little beast have to do with this!-" Remilia shouted into Udonge's ears.

"Ghhhk… ghgkkk." Udonge tried to break Remilia's grasp, but only succeeded when Remilia herself loosened it enough to let Udonge breath and speak.

"She… said… *cough*… you could… break… *gasp* the contract… she's injured... same way..." Udonge barely managed to gasp out. Sensing she was finished, Remilia resumed her death grip, lifting Udonge into the air, using the extra height of the table to get Udonge off her feet… and considered for a while, Udonge struggling against her. Remilia made it a point to keep her eyes closed… she had faced the rabbit before, and she wasn't about to give her any edge to work with.

After nearly a minute, as Udonge's struggles were weakening, Remilia released her grip, Udonge fell to the ground in a heap and gasped for air.

"First of all, I'll need you to make a contract… you must not tell anyone else about my ability to break contracts." Remilia told Udonge, but Udonge didn't even pay her any attention, so busy was she with getting her senses and breath back.

Remilia was impatient… she stood on the rabbits back and pulled her head up by the ears.

"Are you listening? This is very important."

Udonge desperately nodded her head as much as she could, and the vampire continued, straining Udonge's back and ears terribly.

"Good. I need you to agree to a contract to prevent you from telling anyone that I can null them. If it became public knowledge, everything would get messy. I don't like messes. Got it?"

"Yes…" Udonge managed to gasp out.

Remilia took a contract paper... she always made sure to have several blank spellcards on her for just this purpose... and jotted the terms she had just mentioned out onto it. Remilia then took Udonge's finger and slashed the tip open. Udonge twitched at the pain, and struggled against the hold, but though the vampire weighed relatively little, her supernatural might prevented Udonge from making any progress.

Remilia put the contract in front of Udonge on the ground and moved her arm to be able to sign it.

"Sign it, now." Udonge did as she was commanded, through pained tears. She felt the contract take hold, binding the secret of Remilia's power within her.

"Good. With that out of the way, we can continue." Remilia pulled even harder on the poor rabbit's ears.

"That Satori girl… she needs to come here to sign a similar contract, and you're going to help me get her here. Sound good?" Udonge nodded desperately, hardly able to breath with Remilia on her back and her head tilted back so far.

"Okay… next on the agenda, severing this tie you mention. I can indeed do it, but I'm going to need a while. I need to go through the proper channels or things will get… complicated again. And we like things simple, remember?" Remilia continued. Udonge again nodded, in a position to do little else, but Remilia paid her little mind.

"Now, I'm going to let you speak, so choose your words very carefully… Why does Satori want me to break the contract?" Remilia relaxed her hold slightly, letting Udonge breath and gasp out a few words.

"She's bound… by it… badly… injured… can't heal… anyone… unless… all healed… Marisa… … slowing… … healing… of… Alice…" Remilia jerked her hand back up, once again constricting her airways.

"I see. And have you considered what might happen to Marisa if I cut her fate away from two youkai who -won't- die from the wounds all three of them suffer?"

Udonge shook her head, tears still rolling down her face.

"Marisa would die. Well, I suppose I should give her a little more credit. She'd only -likely- die… she's an unusual human. And you may not realize just how much that would tangle things up. She's very influential, you see. So if you don't think you can keep her alive without a pair of youkai supporting her life, then be prepared to deal with the consequences, because I'm not taking the fall for her death."

Udonge nodded as vigorously as she could.

"Good. Now, one last thing. Speak of what we discussed in here with no one… say not a word on what transpired here up to this point. As far as they're concerned, we merely discussed terms of their stay, and settled on the following agreement: That you will add Sakuya to your patients, and do your best to treat her. You... -will- do this, yes?" Remilia asked, and Udonge was in no position to object... so she nodded her head yet again.

"Good, good. Now with that out of the way, I've got another contract for you to sign... I don't like leaving loose ends." Remilia had been writing it with her free hand, detailing the points she had just mentioned and Udonge had just agreed to and a spell to keep it in place, and she now placed it in front of Udonge, who signed it, desperate to just get out of here, to be let go, as her vision was tunneling.

Once Udonge's signature was on the contract, Remilia stowed it away and jumped up, twisting Udonge's ears as she flipped Udonge around, then kicked down hard, knocking the wind out of Udonge before stepping on her throat. A few moments later, Udonge's struggles ceased, and Remilia hoisted her up onto her shoulders after a while longer of cutting off her breath.

So much easier to deal with youkai than humans… so much more resilience.

Yet so much less resistance.

* * *

_**Scarlet Devil Mansion Guest Wing**_

Remilia plopped Udonge in front of one of the open doors.

"I think she was a bit overwhelmed by my presence… and truly that room was awful warm… I should get Patchouli to ventilate it better. Anyway, we reached an agreement. You folks are welcome to stay as long as you like, unless something changes. You'll simply have another patient... one of my servants was injured lately. I'll bring her here for you. Let me know if you need anything else."

Remilia waved as she walked away from Keine's worried expression as the human rushed towards Udonge. Satisfied she was still alive, and in fact, perfectly healthy… perhaps a bit stressed, but that was to be expected... Keine wondered when Udonge had last rested.

Mokou was getting better at remaining dead, able to stave off her resurrection for nearly a minute at a time, and with no pressure or place to go, had no reason to let the horrific poison take a hold on her. She spent more time dead than alive, it seemed… Furthermore, As she retained control of her muscles shortly after being resurrected, she simply broke her neck as soon as she resurrected and let nature do the rest, dying soon before the poison erupted into pain. Far less taxing than shutting her body down through sheer willpower. The sound of her neck constantly breaking was disturbing and caused Keine to wince whenever she heard it, but Mokou had made it very clear that if she hadn't, she would be far, far worse off. Mokou had, however, asked that she be left alone.

When Keine had asked Mokou why Mokou didn't just kill Kaguya and free her from the pain, she had not been pleased with the response: a hearty "Let her deal with her own problems." Keine wasn't very keen on committing a few thousand murders over the next few days, so she hadn't pressed the issue.

Reisen, meanwhile, had been an alright assistant… she did what she was told, though she was rather bad at… well, just about everything she had been assigned. She was at least an extra pair of hands to help. She constantly wore a worried expression on her face, and constantly looked to Toyohime and Eirin, as though they would suddenly wake up and declare a solution.

For her part, Youmu was eager to learn and helpful, but lacked any experience in treating such severe wounds. Keine had needed to teach her how to properly change the bandages and such on the two grievously injured patients, but Youmu was now proving to be quite useful.

Udonge awoke soon after, assuring everyone that she was fine and quickly resuming her duties.

* * *

_**A few hours later**_

Remilia waited. She had used a spell to contact Ran, and sat with a bribe of fried tofu ready. She still couldn't believe the kitsune could stand that stuff, but that just meant she wasn't taking more edible foods as bribes, so Remilia didn't complain.

After a brief while, Ran appeared, calmly accepting the offering and smiling smugly.

"So, decided to work on our terms, then?"

"For now, yes. Someone has requested that I break another contract."

"Satori, I take it? Who else would know you had that ability… Yukari and I have kept it quite secret."

"It seems Satori told one other…" Ran looked upset. "Don't worry, I'm taking measures to silence the satori, and the one she told has already sworn not to spread the word. It shouldn't be a problem, soon."

"Well, at least you're checking in, this time. Why do they want to null the duel?"

"Actually, they wish to alter it slightly. It seems Marisa, Alice, and Satori bound their fates together way too tight with a duel. Now they want to keep the contract, but remove Marisa from their fate tangle. She's a human, and slowing their youkai healing down to her level. Basically… you're familiar with life support…?"

Ran nodded… it had been used in the outside world for quite some time… it was easy to forget Remilia might be familiar with it.

"Well, they can't afford to keep her on it, so they want to cut her off. I'm not sure if she'll survive when they do, and this case isn't nearly as clear cut as it was with Satori. Marisa's death could-"

"It's fine. If she dies, she dies. Spellcard duels were never intended to act as life support. You're welcome to make that alteration to their contract. It's good to see you've come around to our way of thinking. You know how to reach me if you've any further questions." Ran said, turning and vanishing through a gap.

Remilia shrugged and went to inform Udonge.

* * *

_**Later that Night**_

"I'll do what you asked, Udonge." Remilia said as the lunar rabbit was tending Marisa's wounds. Everyone else was asleep at this point... Remilia had carried the unconscious and badly wounded Sakuya into the room earlier.

Udonge remembered the silver haired girl, and despite their first meeting bore her no ill will. Sakuya had no open wounds, but she, as Marisa, had lost a lot of blood. It seemed every bone in her body was broken, and several seemed to have begun to set poorly.

"Thank yo-"

"But remember, if she dies, she dies. You're welcome to tend to her, but I doubt she'll last long. Sakuya will live, but I need her working again as soon as possible. Choose carefully who you spend more time with, and consider what I said earlier."

Udonge looked at her patients… Marisa looked on the verge of death already. Udonge knew how to treat her injuries… she had treated several such injuries with Eirin's assistance… but not all her patients had made it through. And not only did she lack a blood supply, she had to deal with the worst case of frostbite she'd ever seen on top of everything else.

Sakuya, on the other hand, had suffered terrible bone damage, and the bones were already beginning to set improperly. If she weren't treated swiftly, she may end up permanently disfigured.

Udonge turned to Remilia. "I'm going to rest… could you do it at sunrise? They're going to need my full attention, I think, and I haven't been able to rest, lately…"

Remilia nodded. "Of course. I'd rather she survive as well. As I said, she's an interesting human."

"'course… 'm… g'nn' s'v'v." Marisa moaned from her bed. Udonge sighed, and went to her room to rest after changing Marisa's bandages and planning preliminary steps in Sakuya's treatment.

* * *

_**At Dawn**_

Udonge was awakened by Remilia at the break of dawn.

"Hey, I'm going to bed now, so let's get this taken care of now, alright?"

Udonge staggered to her feet and followed Remilia to Marisa's bed. Everyone else was still sleeping, but Udonge was much refreshed. She approached Marisa's bedside… Marisa was sleeping peacefully.

Udonge readied herself. She performed some self-hypnosis… she wasn't a master of it by any means, but she was able to calm her nerves and steel herself for what lay ahead.

"Do it, then."

Remilia yawned, then walked up to Marisa and gathered something up, lifted a hand as though clenching something, then swiped a claw under it.

"There you go. Her fate lies in your hands and hers, now. Good day." Remilia walked off and yawned.

That was it? It was rather anticlimactic... Udonge looked at Marisa… little seemed to have changed… Even so, she wasted no time in applying her vast medical knowledge and resources to the task of keeping Marisa alive… A task that was now promising to become far more difficult.

_**At Myouren Temple**_

It had been two days since Satori had handed Udonge the letter, but Satori's condition hadn't yet improved… the frostbite, the broken limbs (At least she could feel her legs again, not that their constant pain was particularly comforting), and the gashes stubbornly refused to heal.

Ichirin was baffled, but continued tending them. After all, some very, very minor improvements had been showing. Furthermore, a mouse youkai, Nazrin, had been posted in Satori's room to keep watch, and Nue hadn't made any more attempts on Satori's life.

Nazrin had been a bitter sort of company from the beginning, performing a duty she'd rather not, and after the first day, after being having her cowardice and gluttonous behavior pointed out countless times, Nazrin had been even less willing. Satori was thankful that Nazrin had a sense of duty at least, because her dedication to Shou was all that was keeping a pair of dowsing rods out of Satori's throat.

Occasionally, another couple people dropped by. There was some sort of sailor ghost, who seemed to be resisting an urge to drown Satori… not out of any hatred, mind, but it seemed a part of who she was… Murasa Minamitsu, she who drowns. Satori paid careful attention to Murasa whenever she was around... It seemed she was good friends with Nue as well, and combined with her desire to drown Satori, she knew she was looking at yet another potential assassin.

The other visitor she had was a yamabiko… apparently when Satori had fallen from the sky, it was this yamabiko's echo of Satori's screams that had alerted the others to her presence. She had barely stayed at all, as she had some… music and sutras, apparently… to practice, but she was relieved when she saw Satori was alive. Satori wasn't sure she would call what was in this "Kyouko"'s head music, but she had heard less pleasant sounds, to be sure.

The room was then, quiet as usual apart from the thoughts. Ichirin herself had been getting annoyed with treating Satori, who never seemed to heal. Ichirin began to suspect that Satori was some sort of maligner, faking her injuries for attention, because there's no way a youkai would remain this injured for this long. Thankfully she had already left the room, leaving only Nazrin's hate.

Byakuren finally entered, much to Satori's relief. Satori immediately recognized her face, and knew she'd never forget Byakuren's heart from then. Her mind was towering… she had lived a thousand years, and unlike most youkai Satori had met, remembered it all… Satori had to use memory tricks and hypnosis to keep it all, but Byakuren had over a millennium of memories active, and neatly organized, as though in shelves that reached to the heavens themselves.

Her mind was impressive, but at the same time, Byakuren's heart was weak. Her fear towered over even her impressive mind. What had once been a fear of death had given way to a fear of rejection, then disappearance, then of failure… fear of betrayal was beginning to leak in as well, now. Byakuren was putting on a composed, cheerful face, but her heart was troubled and conflicted, despite… no… because of her friends efforts? Satori was somewhat overwhelmed by Byakuren's insecurities.

At the same time, Satori also realized that Byakuren was eager to meet with Satori… to discuss Koishi (who had still not shown up, unfortunately), to see what a normal satori was like. Byakuren seemed sure that Kanako had been exaggerating when she spoke of the inability to negotiate with a satori.

It was new to Satori… She wasn't used to this sort of attitude. Normally people were either ignorant of her power at first, or knew of it and hated or feared it. All this assessment took only the few seconds Byakuren needed to reach Satori's bedside. In the meantime, Shou had appeared, gestured at Nazrin, and Nazrin had followed.

Byakuren sat on the side of the bed. _What to talk about first..._

"Hello, It's a pleasure to fina-"

"This is going to sound selfish… and it is, but do you know any healing magic?" Satori wasted no time in getting to the point.

Byakuren considered a while, running through a repertoire of spells…

"That one will do. Could you just focus on it for a bit?"

_But… that only effects me…_Byakuren was confused. "My recovery and augmentation spells only effect myself, though." Nonetheless, she complied.

Satori was busy studying the spell in Byakuren's mind.

"Could you please cast it?"

Byakuren was willing enough to do so, though more than a little confused at the request, and she channeled some energy, shaping it into a spell that left her feeling greatly refreshed. Satori observed it carefully, then nodded.

"Thank you, that should do. Now, if you can just wait a few minutes, I'll be more able to speak with you."

"What do you mean?"

"Quiet, I'm busy." Satori withdrew the doll Udonge had given her and spoke into it.

"Are you ready?"

"Yes, Marisa's been cut free. They were willing, just like you said. And by the way, some other people were hit by the poison... so we relocated everyone here...the Scarlet Devil Mansion, that is. There's more room."

"I figured as much... there didn't seem to be much love lost for Marisa. The guard is ready then?"

Meiling's voice chimed in. "I'm only doing this as payment for your help, you realize..."

"My... what? What are you talking about."

"I didn't even think of trying to alter the Qi of others... until you brought it up. This isn't the first time I've healed someone, now... You may not realize it, but you saved Sakuya's life as much as I did..."

"What? What happened to...? Nevermind, you can tell me later. You're ready, though?"

"Whenever you are. Just remember, after this, we're even."

Byakuren was listening, confused. The gate guard seemed unusually hostile towards someone who had, by her own admission, saved a friend's life. Hong Meiling had always seemed so friendly and cordial whenever Byakuren spoke with her.

Satori shrugged off Byakuren's confusion with her good shoulder. "I don't even remember, off hand. Reisen, let me know when she starts healing." Satori began pooling her magic, wrapping it around herself, ready to trigger the healing spell she had just learned.

"Alright…" A brief pause. "She says she's going at it now."

Satori let the magic flow through her, revitalizing her… broken bones knit themselves together, the many wide slashes closed themselves, the blisters from frostbite vanished… and it took surprisingly little energy. It was complicated, and took a lot of concentration, but Satori was used to these restrictions, and it was a relief once again using an effective spell for the purpose it had been designed for, rather than using brute force to improvise a solution.

"It worked! that's load off my mind. I need to go and resume Marisa's treatment." Udonge exclaimed from the other end. Satori let out a sigh of relief as she flexed her left arm, newly restored, then she thought a bit... Marisa... come to think of it, Satori realized she and Alice were probably supporting Marisa's health as much as hers was holding them back. Well, had been... And Ichirin said those wounds would have been fatal to a human. Well, there was nothing to be done about it now. Satori had needed to be better, and fast. She silently wished Marisa, who had staked her life to save Satori's, the best of luck. Perhaps with Meiling there, she'd pull through.

Alice's voice came through. "Thank goodness, you can't imagine what it felt like being in that condition."

Satori frowned slightly. "Believe it or not, I can." She had told Reisen not to inform Alice of the plan... Alice saw Marisa as a close comrade, and doubtless would have put up a fight in Marisa's defense. Alice may have been willing to support Marisa so, but Satori was not.

"Oh. Well, good work, then. Any other word? Seems the moon finally lost its last line of defense, by the way. "

"Not surprising, I suppose. No other news to speak of. I've some books I'll get back to you, borrowed from Patchouli, and I found some interesting things out from one of her servants, but I'm about to speak with Byakuren. I'll fill you in later." The doll went silent and Satori put it away.

Byakuren's mind had been rushing. _How did she learn that spell so quickly? It took me decades to refine that!_

"And I thank you for doing so. None of the spells I had would have been nearly efficient enough to treat the injuries I had sustained. If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to get my clothes back on, now that I can actually do so."

"Oh.. of course!" Byakuren blushed and closed the door, staring at it from inside the room. She was still baffled, and quite honestly, jealous that a spell that had taken her decades to perfect had been stolen in mere minutes. _And what was she talking about with those people?_

Satori donned her clothes over the next few minutes… Byakuren started wondering what was taking so long, but as she started to consider turning around, Satori chided her.

"I'm not done yet. Sorry, but this takes a while." Byakuren impatiently returned back to the door, eager to get on with the conversation already. Finally, Satori finished dressing herself, and announced the fact. Byakuren returned to the bed, where Satori was now sitting, and sat down beside her.

Byakuren realized quickly just why it had taken so long to don Satori's clothes. In fact, she was now intensely curious how she had done it… there seemed to be no way to get the blouse on over her eye like that…

"It took a lot of practice, to be sure. And a bit of magic. It really is far, far more comfortable than letting my eye hang loose, though. But enough of that, I have something I need to ask you."

_That's hardly fair…_"I think you owe me some answers first."

Satori sighed, but agreed. "I suppose so. To answer your questions, then, I sustained my injuries from Remilia's younger sister, as well as an unfortunate wording on a spellcard duel and a fight with Yuuka, and subsequently a defeat at the hands of an the ice fairy Cirno, though I ask you to remember I was critically injured at the time. The guard was annoyed at my constant mind-reading, though I discovered she has a very interesting ability, which is why she was willing to help me. Yes, I can read your hearts, yes, your followers are loyal to you, although you're driving them far from their natures, so they're afraid of losing themselves. Well, not Ichirin… she seems to be along the path you wish her to follow… she's rather further down it than you, even. Yes, she is… you are too controlled by fear and attached to your friends right now. Yes, Nue is abusing your trust, though she is not a threat to your temple as you fear. Nue's disagreement is with me, personally, and once I am gone she will cause you little more trouble... well, little pranks here and there but that's about it. And yes, she really truly does want me dead." Satori took a breath while Byakuren sat wide-eyed. Byakuren hadn't even realized she wanted several of those answers until Satori had spoken them.

"You're wondering how and why I managed to get up to the surface. That's a rather long story, but suffice it to say I am on business for the Yama… I'll get to that with my questions. First though, you still seem to have more. Mamizou trusts only money, Murasa still drowns people behind your back, though she wishes she didn't have to. I haven't met this "Miko" you speak of, so no, she didn't send me, and Kanako does hate me and find it just as impossible to hold a conversation with me as she told you. Oh, and yes, you -were- vain and selfish for defending youkai, though your concern for them now is genuine, though selfish for different reasons. From what I've seen, my assessment is that yes, it's possible for youkai to change, and you seem to be having an effect, slow though it may be. I haven't met any humans up here apart from Marisa, sorry… I can't tell you how the humans feel about the temple. And no, I'm absolutely -not- willing to go into their village to find out, either, unless I absolutely must. Finally, Koishi is indeed my sister, and no, I haven't seen her lately… I was led to believe that she lived here at the temple, but it seems you've lost track of her, just as everyone else has." Satori caught her breath. "I believe that's everything."

Byakuren was stunned. There were definitely some answers in that onslaught that she -hadn't- wanted to hear, but they were all answers to questions she had been wondering quietly about.… she was sitting, but doubted she could stand if she tried. She didn't want to believe it, but everything she'd heard about Satori seemed true…

"One more, it seems… no, I'm not impossible to talk to, but I -am- very busy right now. I wouldn't mind sharing tea later, should you wish to join me in Chireiden, but it will have to wait until the current crisis is over. It's rather novel to be greeted with curiosity and concern instead of hatred and distrust."

_What… a crisis? _Byakuren was still mentally off balance, and Satori didn't let up on the verbal torrent as she explained the situation.

"Makai is currently planning an invasion, so I need to know anything you can tell me about that realm or its inhabitants."

Byakuren's confusion only grew. She saw Makai as a hospitable, if lonely place… she had been sealed there for about a thousand years, but one person came to visit her frequently. Shinki, the Goddess of Makai… they chatted peaceably over tea countless times, Shinki helped Byakuren with a lot of her research, taught her spells… Byakuren on her part did likewise, telling Shinki about the outside world and the beauty within. A long stretch of images showed her working on a scroll-spell, and Satori recognized it as the tube Byakuren carried with her even now.

"No, I'm afraid they don't intend to invite us for tea. They've already destroyed much of the lunar civilization… well, all of it now, it sounds like." Satori continued, but Byakuren was surprised to learn there even -was- a lunar civilization. Alright, then she'd need a new way to convince Byakuren of the magnitude and importance of the situation they faced… Satori could tell Byakuren didn't believe her yet.

"I worked for the Yama to judge souls for a short time recently. Some of those were demonic, and some Lunarian. I'm now acting as a representative of the Yama herself." Satori held out the ring, which Byakuren seemed to notice for the first time. Byakuren's eyes suited at it as she studied it's magic with her own... clearly identifying it as being from the Yamaxanadu Shikieiki herself.

_But… they were so kind. I can't imagine them fighting anyone..._

"Probably a deception on their part. Now, I have a favor to ask of you. Destroy all your connections to Makai." Satori's demand was sudden and blunt.

Byakuren froze. Her mind turned to her scroll. Her Sorcerer's Picture Scroll, the result of seven hundred years of labor… finding fragments around Makai that had the suitable personality… coaxing them to work together, attuning it to her, working with Shinki to control the spirit within… then of course the construction of the magic scroll itself, requiring countless hours poring over it, emptying parts of her very essence into it, ensuring that it would be with her forever… it had become a part of herself. Her memories of Shinki helping her when she got stuck, of that one mind that had come to really understand Byakuren. That kind, gentle soul who had helped her remain sane over a thousand years of imprisonment…

"The scroll? I'm sorry, but if it's that connected to Makai, then it needs to be destroyed, or the Goddess of Makai could use it to make a gate here to Gensokyo… and we wouldn't last long if that happened."

Byakuren looked at her most prized possession, then frowned and turned back to Satori, distrust already growing.

"You'll excuse me if I trust a friend of a thousand years more than I trust a satori who I've known for mere minutes, and who, in those minutes, has insulted me, implied my friends are betraying me, and suggested that my most trusted ally's entire personality has been a -deception- carried out over a thousand years." Byakuren growled. "The scroll stays." Even if it didn't have such a personal connection, it was still a tremendously powerful tool, and Byakuren was always aware of how she needed to remain vigilant, not only against wild youkai and youkai exterminators, but to keep her own followers in line… and the scroll was necessary for that.

"Neither of us wish to budge, then…" Satori concluded. _Perhaps Kanako was right… there -is- no negotiating with a satori…_Byakuren's sadness and disappointment colored her thoughts.

"Well, thankfully there's another way to resolve such conflicts…" Satori stood and drew four spellcards. "If I win, we destroy your scroll."

Byakuren nodded, full of resolve. She drew six and beckoned towards the door. "But if I win, then you'll leave here immediately and the scroll is safe." The sooner Satori left, the sooner things would return to normal, it seemed, and Byakuren was confident in her victory.

"Once we're outside, I accept." Satori felt the contract take hold, and they left to duel in the snowstorm outside.

* * *

_**Outside Myouren Temple**_

Satori braced herself. Both she and Byakuren had performed basic spells to ward them against the cold, and they launched into combat, launching their colorful projectiles. Byakuren was cornered first, as Satori had no difficulty reading her attacks; Byakuren's organized mind was just as convenient for Satori as it was for Byakuren.

"Magic: Omen in Purple mist!" Streams of violet projectiles fanned out, their pattern fixed and somewhat straightforward. Satori easily read the pattern form Byakuren's mind, and effortlessly cleared the spellcard. The next interim between spells was even shorter… now Satori had a reliable way to exploit Byakuren's structured mind, and had little difficulty trapping her once again. Byakuren was getting frustrated, but unleashed her next spell.

"Magic: Magic Butterfly!" Waves of beautiful butterflies swirled in the air, following their programmed paths, while beams of light cut through the air at regular intervals. After her fights with the wild and unrestrained Yuuka and Flandre, these attacks were trivial… once again, Satori cleared the card with minimal effort. There was hardly even a moment before Byakuren had to use her next spell; as soon as Magic Butterfly had finished, a wave of bullets had her trapped as Satori had known exactly where she would be when the card ended… Byakuren cursed slightly, then unleashed her next spellcard to clear the area around her.

"Light Magic": Magic Milky Way!" Waves of fiery air sliced through the snowstorm surrounding them. It was a basic attack… and once again, Byakuren knew its weakness, so Satori exploited it, trivializing a confusing spellcard. It, too was defeated, and Satori took the opening to press her advantage and use her own.

"Recollection: Terrifying Hypnotism!" Satori's lights entranced Byakuren, who was already having difficulty keeping herself collected. Byakuren was still channeling magic for her own next spellcard, so her mental defense was hindered, allowing Satori to see clearly into Byakuren's mind.

Byakuren's deepest fear was clear… at first, Satori had thought it death… but no.. .her greatest fear was of isolation. Her brother had helped her through life… then died. She had made treaties and pacts with youkai, and they had supported her… then she was sealed away. In Makai, she had been befriended by Shinki… then 'freed'. Once freed, she had her devotees… and she was worried they would betray her and leave her alone once again. Byakuren needed attachment, and Satori fully intended to rip away the single largest attachment she had ever formed. And only now, deep in Byakuren's mind, did she see the depth of that attachment.

The Sorcerer's Picture Scroll was bound to Byakuren no less than Alice's Grimoire was bound to her. Indeed, the connection went far deeper. Further complicating matters, the scroll's mind was always with her, quietly suggesting things to her… advice she heeded as she would her own, for in a very real sense, it no less a part of her mind than her arms were part of her body. The scroll itself seemed manipulative… deceptive somehow, but seemed to share Byakuren's goals and motivations, as befitted something that thoroughly bound to her. Satori sensed something… (another heart?) within the scroll, but it was well concealed… and her hypnotism hadn't targeted the scroll. On Byakuren's part, she feared the loss of the scroll not just as a loss of a powerful tool… not just as the loss of a memento of a friendly collaboration…

She feared the loss of her best friend.

The spellcard ended, and Byakuren's organized mind recovered surprisingly quickly, dodging the few bursts of danmaku Satori sent her way. Byakuren felt the spellcard nearly full charged, and prepared to declare _Great Magic: Devil's Recitation. _Satori froze…

She recognized the energy now… Byakuren had been drawing a tremendous amount of energy from Makai during Terrifying Hypnosis, though of course Satori's mind had been focused on something else at the time. The air thrummed around Byakuren, space rippling around her, sparks of energy… far too much to control, flying free. Satori wondered how… the scroll! Of course the scroll would have no difficulty channeling that much energy from Makai, its birthplace… And then she saw in Byakuren's mind the intended effect of the spell… a rather impressive attack… she had even used it once before, in a small corner of Makai, where it had barely been defeated by Reimu, Marisa, and Sanae working together. It had smashed apart the seals of the other prisoners in Hokkai, had freed them all, though Byakuren hadn't minded… after all, they were just like her, unjustly trapped. Oh yes, Satori recognized the incantation… She remembered it clearly.

From Alice's mind, where it had destroyed an entire realm of existence.

"Stop!" Satori screamed through the wind, rushing at Byakuren, the spell finally ready.

"Great-" Byakuren began, holding out the card. Satori sped towards her… no, it wouldn't be enough. She collapsed the distance as much as she could, using the shinigami's power she was becoming more and more familiar with to close the distance swiftly.

"Magic:" Satori was next to Byakuren now, but Byakuren nimbly drifted away from Satori…. the scroll had been enhancing Byakuren's speed and agility throughout the fight… Satori had paid it little mind before now, but Byakuren was going to be impossible to hit in the short time she had left…

"Devil's-"

"Stop!" No response… time was running out... Satori only had one more chance to stop the spell.

"Reci-"

"I surrender!" Satori screamed at Byakuren, who remained an aggravating five feet away, as quickly and clearly as she could. She felt the duel end, her course being altered… the scroll would be safe and Satori would leave…

"ta… huh?" The energy Byakuren had gathered crackled and sparked. _But… Satori had been winning. What happened? Did a stray shot hit her? _The scroll silently shrieked in complete frustration.

"You blind fool! Look at yourself! Think of the spell you were about to cast!" Satori screamed at Byakuren.

Byakuren noted the magic around her… far more than she remembered gathering. Far, -far- more… More energy than she had ever gathered before. She panicked… She had no idea what to do with this much energy… it was beginning to dissipate on its own, but she was afraid of the power now at her fingertips.

"That spell... The goddess taught it to you, didn't she? Just like she helped you make part of the scroll. Just like the scroll itself made you think it your best friend. You're a magician.. you were before you ever made that scroll. What would have happened if you had used that spellcard with that much energy behind it? You don't need to consult the scroll… you know this answer." Satori knew she had to convince Byakuren, and soon...

Byakuren considered… the effect would have been larger than she had anticipated… she did some quick calculations… the beams of destruction widening in her mind as she corrected for the extra energy she was channeling… and when she was finished… she realized they would have consumed all of Gensokyo. Only Byakuren, as the caster, and Satori, as her duel opponent protected by the nature of the duel itself, would have survived... The attack was far beyond any sort of spellcard regulations.

Byakuren was appalled. She had been a mere syllable away from wiping out everything she had been working so hard to build. Countless deaths would have been on her hands. Satori watched as Byakuren's carefully stacked mind began to crumble… insecurities quaking the enormous shelves within… her cosmic mind beginning to topple. Everything Byakuren had thought she was started to collapse around her. The strain of holding the magic was hammering at her mind, exacerbating the problem. And she turned to her one true friend, the one she had poured part of her very soul into.

The scroll, its plan hundreds of years in the making and foiled by a satori at the very brink of success… hundreds of years of manipulating and deceiving a powerful magician… of remaining hidden in a corner of her mind… of practicing subtle control of her emotions to keep her in line. All of it, wasted. Its frustration knew no bounds.

Byakuren turned to it for support, as she had for ages. It had always been there, a shoulder to lean on… a reminder that her path was righteous… a symbol of her accomplishments. So close to her that it had become a part of her mind, even beyond the part of her soul it held. She leaned on it for support, as dependent on the Sorcerer's Picture Scroll as she was her legs.

But the scroll was gone. And Byakuren fell.

...

..

.

* * *

Shou rushed out, her mind prepared to attack Satori with the pagoda she held.

"Get out! You lost the duel, so -LEAVE-!" Shou's voice roared… the anger in it was as apparent to anyone within a mile as it was to Satori, hearing it directly from Shou's heart, compelling Satori to obey her contract and leave Shou to tend her unconscious friend.

As Satori left, she could swear she heard an echo carried to her on the winds as she flew away… compelled by contract to leave the temple… "This pain...it's why I closed my eye... did you know that, Shou? The pain was everywhere I went. Now everything's better..." Satori wanted to turn back… to tell the voice it was wrong… she wanted to go back and talk… but she couldn't.

So all she could do as she flew away was look back and see, for the first time in years, her sister, just beyond her reach. She was right there, but Satori could do nothing but fly away... It wasn't fair! Was there no justice? She had just saved Gensokyo, and her reward was to be denied a meeting with the one person she still cared for? Well, she wouldn't stand for it... she'd show her sister she still cared, no matter what fate tried to say about it.

Satori cried out defiantly, as loudly as she could towards the temple, tears spilling from her eyes. "I still love you, Koishi!"

The whistling winds stole her words away.

* * *

_**Author's Notes**_

So that's it for the pre-written chapters. Well, sort of. The next one's mostly written, but... well... CH 6 was mostly written, and then it turned into nearly 3 chapters, so I suppose I'll see what happens.

I'm also finding that I end up not using a lot of material... I write a bit, then realize that something doesn't fit, or I'd rather not deal with some complications from it, or just come up with an idea that seems to flow better.


	8. Chapter 8

_**Author's Note:**_

Hmmm... This chapter's a bit short. Sorry about that. Anyway, I think I'm going to start putting these notes at the beginning, since I've noticed I have a horrible tendency to try and line up cliffhangers with the end of a chapter, and I'm a bit worried about the mood being broken there. We'll see.

* * *

_**High in the sky, between Myourenji and the Scarlet Devil Mansion**_

Satori was so absorbed in her troubled thoughts that she didn't notice the other traveler until they were within a few hundred feet of each other… the other traveler was flying towards Satori. Satori couldn't help but read the traveling woman's heart, and she was disgusted at what she saw.

In general, satori value honesty. Someone with nothing to hide, after all, might in theory not object to having their hearts read and communicate in a truly heartfelt manner. Satori herself had never met such a person, but this heart was about as far from that ideal as one could be and still be considered human. The woman's heart was one of selfish betrayal. Though a human, she seemed more youkai in attitude, considering most people beneath her. She felt at home within webs of deceit, and exposed when forced into honesty. There was little power, but a great deal of technique in her mind… centuries spent learning and developing ways around her human limitations… she frequently offered it to others, but kept the best parts for herself, while using them for her own, selfish ends. Seiga Kaku… the name seemed sly and slippery, even in her own mind.

Satori was disgusted… and, as she tended to do when confronted with such a person, decided to show her just what betrayal feels like.

"Well, fancy meeting someone else up here." Seiga said. _Well, if it isn't that satori… seems she's been causing quite a ruckus lately… perhaps she'd be interesting… _Satori was ready to play along.

"Oh, hello. Who are you?"

"You can call me Seiga… but you should know that already, I suppose. I've heard a lot about you lately, Satori."_ Trying to pull one over on me… she wishes._

"Oh. Well, yes, I suppose. But… if you've heard about me, then why are you -approaching- me?"

"I believe we can enter into a… mutually beneficial relationship." _What does she want, I wonder… Power's usually a safe bet. _

"Well, It's true I could use some help… I've had a rough few days. I mean, I could certainly use some mentoring in some spells… I found I lack some rather fundamental ones… communication spells especially. I mean, I had to fight Cirno because I couldn't call for help... and she beat me soundly." Satori said, pondering out loud.

Just as she had suspected, Seiga's mind started coursing through several such spells, wondering which to offer Satori. Satori understood the basics of that sort of spell, now, and, using bits from this spell and that, managed to cobble together a functional one fairly quickly, as well as stealing the one Seiga ultimately decided on… but just before Seiga said anything about the spell, Satori continued.

"On the other hand, I went up against Yuuka, and I found my output lacking compared to hers… perhaps you could teach me some better ways to channel my magic so I don't run out so easily." Seiga smiled in response… She had some amazing techniques for that… Using external receptacles to store and channel energy… some spells that could be used to control its flow to increase efficiency… even some to steal magic from an opponent, or channel it directly from the surroundings.

"Oh, I've much I could teach you of that…" Seiga offered… But Satori had learned all she needed to on that topic already, and interrupted.

"Well… but I guess more power isn't useful if I don't know how to use it, huh? Do you have any protective spells? I wasn't even able to take a hit from a vampire… and I think that may come up again, later." Seiga's mind searched desperately for a spell of that power… she considered several… there were a number of augmentations that could ward the body against damage… or… ah, she had decided… there was one that could redirect the damage of a strike to a specially prepared object… it would only be good for a single hit against the likes of a vampire, but any direct approach would fail against that level of power, anyway. Satori couldn't help but grin a little bit. This woman had a lot of new techniques… a rather different sort than Satori had seen. Satori had never really considered using inanimate objects in her magic before, but Seiga's magic revolved around it, to compensate for her own weak magical power.

To make the situation even better, Seiga had tested these spells and refined them for centuries. They were fine-tuned to use as little energy as possible for a large effect… just the sort of spell Satori needed. She clearly understood their limitations, and the sorts of rituals that would be needed to prepare the objects used in the spells… the sorts of materials that were needed and where to find them… all neatly cataloged with the spells for which they would be needed… Seiga's mind truly was a treasure trove, but just as Satori knew the valuable spells and techniques that lie inside, she also knew that none of them would have been taught… Seiga had intended on teaching perhaps one or two minor techniques, and none of the theory behind them, while using the promise of more and better ones to control Satori.

"I think I've got just the thing for that, yes." Seiga smiled. "Now, how about we bargain… there are some things I'd like you to do, you see." _Finally, I'll have someone even better than Miko. for gathering information._

"Well, I don't know I can trust you. You…. you -would- teach me everything right? No secrets between us? I mean, if I'm going to work for you, I'd need to know that you're willing to teach me even your most powerful magic." Satori's leading questions guided Seiga's mind just as she knew they would… First, a bit of worry that Satori would see through her plans, then that _I would need to be honest, wouldn't I…? She's a satori…_then Seiga carefully considering if she was willing to impart the knowledge of her magnum opus, her greatest magic… she had never never taught it to anyone now… if it fell into the wrong hands, it could be used on her after all. A peerless domination spell, that bent a subjects very soul to the whim of the caster. She wasn't sure she was willing to let knowledge of it get out. especially if her worries were justified… she had spent so much time on the spell, that it was conceiveable that even the spell itself may be used as its own focus against her.

While Seiga considered what to do with the spell, Satori had found it… and quickly analyzed it, discovered how to perform it… the need for something with a strong connection to the subject… how to bind part of the subject's soul to the thing, and use that to control them as though they were a puppet. A dark, foul magic that violated so many principles…

Seiga herself had no compunctions about using it, but ultimately she decided that that would be a secret best kept safe, for her own sake. Satori felt somewhat surprised (though thankful; the spell was complex and took her a few seconds to learn) that she had even considered doing teaching it. _It's not worth the risk of being controlled by it, and I don't think it would help her trust __me._

"You're right. I think I've lost all trust in you… though to be honest, I didn't really trust you from the beginning."

_What? I didn't say anything about trust... oh no… _The realization dawned on Seiga as she cursed herself._ She's been reading my mind this whole time, hasn't she!_

"Yes. Now hopefully you understand just how those you betrayed feel."

_What does she-_

"Let me put it this way… You aren't the first, nor will you be the last, powerful mage who has surrendered their greatest spells to me. You no longer have anything to offer me. I've taken what I wished, and left you with nothing of your own. And now, I'm going to leave, and you won't be able to stop me. This may all seem a bit familiar, though you're usually on the other end."

Impotent rage flooded Seiga's mind, and her face turned cold. She clearly hadn't thought that Satori could gain her knowledge so easily. _She thinks she can get away with this! No one uses me!_

Satori was already gathering up magic… "I imagine that's what all the people you've abandoned felt. Think on this… it's never too late to change your ways." Seiga was about to declare a duel, but Satori didn't intend to let her. Satori had focused on and practiced with a certain technique while laid up in bed. She gathered space up beneath her, and… flew across it before letting it go... Seiga's mental shriek of rage was suddenly cut off.

Teleportation complete, Satori stretched. She hoped the lesson would stick… but even if it didn't, Satori had exited the encounter with a slew of tremendously useful spells, and a whole new paradigm to work into her magic. The encounter couldn't have gone any better, really… sometimes people just needed to see what they were doing to others in order to improve themselves. The Yama herself would be proud of what Satori had done, no doubt.

Satori flew on, mulling over the new spells she had learned as a reward for her not entirely selfless act. She immediately began revising some of them… instead of using objects, perhaps she could use a magical construct made for that purpose… perhaps slightly less efficient, but…

* * *

_**Near the misty lake**_

Satori could see the misty lake in the distance, though the Scarlet Devil Mansion itself remained obscured by the mist. She was flying at a comfortable speed, enjoying the quiet solitude, with only the occasional bird's mind fixated on some insect as company. Her cloak kept her warm, and she was in a much better mood after her encounter with Seiga.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Satori felt a mind looking around… for Seiga, it seemed. It noticed Satori, then vanished and reappeared next to her after a few seconds.

A woman's head was poking out of a hole in space. Her heart was well intentioned, but so full of pride that it could see no fault with itself. Oddly, Satori heard through the woman the sounds of her own breathing… heard the wingbeat of a bird she couldn't even see… she heard fairies laughing around the lake in the distance… all comfortably muffled by the woman's earmuffs, into a comforting sort of background sound.

At the same time, Satori also felt herself being assessed. The dried tears in Satori's eyes suggested she had been crying lately, but the positive feeling on her face now meant that they were tears of joy, for nothing painful would spill forth so many tears and be forgotten before they were cleaned away (though Satori knew this to be wrong...). She could sense the fatigue showing on her face and in her movements… not through her own body, but through the sharp eyes of the woman… Satori's own heartbeat was audible, and its gradual acceleration suggested she was uncomfortable in this situation, but it hadn't jumped, so she must be at least somewhat familiar with the spatial magic that had been used to appear next to her.

Satori recognized the face and name from Byakuren's mind earlier. Miko Toyosatomimi was the woman's name, and though the first thought she had was to ask Satori if she had seen Seiga… Miko had been seeking her to try and keep her under control… that thought was immediately replaced by another.

_A third eye… is that the satori Kanako was talking about?_Miko's thoughts were turning back to a recent meeting between herself, Kanako, and Byakuren… Marisa had also been in attendance, it seemed, but Miko hadn't been impressed with Marisa's grasp of the situation. It seemed Satori had been a topic of discussion… which seemed to be where Byakuren had heard of her.

Already, Miko's impression of Satori was shaping into something eerily familiar. It seemed Miko had some sympathy for the satori, and was already thinking about what sort of personality Satori had based solely on what she had heard and what she was now seeing, and coming rather close to the mark.

"Yes, I am. And I saw Seiga some time ago, near the Myouren temple."

Miko acknowledged this, but was swiftly touching up her impression of Satori based the level tone of voice and the swift, direct manner of speaking she had used, as well as her immediate cooperation… Miko was far more interested in Satori, a curious unknown, than Seiga, whose morality and motives were more understood. _What is she doing up here? I guess there goes my idea about her living in Chireiden as a substitute for mindplugs… she seems to desire companionship... but then why does she lock herself away?_"What are you doing-"

"Mindplugs? What are you... ah I see. No, that's actually a fairly accurate description… it seems you suffer a similar but lesser power. Your powers of observation and assessment are very impressive, though I believe the image you have of me is a little off. I wish little more than isolation, now. I'm simply doing my duty because I must." Satori explained.

_She's deceiving herself._ "Your desire for a companion is driving you... has been, for much of your recent life, it seems."

"What? No, I wish to be left alone, and I'm quite certain I know myself."

_I wonder how many minds she's read think that very same thing._"I wonder... After all, there's one heart you can't read."

Satori suddenly remembered Koishi… A mind she so desperately wished to touch once more… She sensed Miko change her appraisal slightly, noting a slight distance in Satori's gaze, though it lasted only a moment.

"Right then, -two- hearts you can't read. Someone very important to you, yes… probably your sister… yes, that's right, I remember now… and you said you were coming from Myuorenji… you likely ran into her there. I wasn't talking about -her- heart, though… " Miko had thought the next part, and lost her steam as Satori reacted to the words before they had been spoken… "I meant your own."

Satori's reaction was confusion. Miko made a good point… when -was- the last time she had been able to read her own heart? She knew the answer immediately… It had been on the day Koishi had maimed herself… the day the only other satori left had ceased to be… the day Satori had been left alone. She had been happy before that, she was sure… she had read her heart through her sister's and known it to be true… but since then… perhaps… perhaps she wasn't seeking Koishi to find her sister…

Perhaps she was seeking Koishi to find herself.

Miko smiled, a smug grin that Satori had herself worn countless times… A grin that knew exactly what her target was thinking… while Satori's expression was equally familiar… the face of one who had just been shocked to their very core… had their beliefs shaken, their world torn out from underneath them…

If… if she wasn't doing it for Koishi… if she was doing it for herself… what kind of person did that make her? Insecure… unwilling to live without knowing who she was? Selfish… using even her own sister for Satori's own benefit… did she even love her sister? Now? Had she ever, or had she simply adored herself in the mirror of Koishi's third eye?

Miko's thoughts were of comfortable superiority… she considered herself the victor of this little encounter… but Satori saw that it was merely her own turn.

"Maybe you're right… but don't think yourself so superior. You manipulated thousands into killing each other… you started a -war-…" Satori spat out the word that grew to disgust her more every day. "For your own benefit."

_The people needed a ruler. They needed me._Miko's confidence was untouched, but Satori was just getting started… her own insecurities fueled her emotional assault.

"They needed -someone-, and you thought yourself fit for the role… But you never even considered that there might anyone else suitable. You thought that you would do what was best for those under your rule, because you were wise and listened." Miko remained confident in her decision. Satori kept going…

"And when it was suggested that you become immortal and rule them forever... You agreed to that, sure it was the best solution. You've been convinced that you did it to help your people; that the war was necessary to create the peace they needed... that everything would be good under your eternal rule." Miko remained convinced of this even now... but then Satori touched a nerve...

"Have you ever considered that perhaps you accepted such a plan for another reason?" Miko's resolve slipped, just a little... and while she was off balance, Satori asked the question Miko knew was coming...

"So tell me, Miko... When is the last time you considered -your- motives?"

The seed of doubt had been planted and with that question it grew... _I did it for the people. They needed a wise ruler like myself!_ Miko tried convincing herself, but the doubt egged her on...Why -had- she spread Buddhism? Had she needed to spread Buddhism at all? She had been telling herself that it was for the people this whole time... but it wasn't, was it? She realized the truth that she had been avoiding for centuries. She hadn't started a holy war to bring peace to the people...

She had started a war and spread Buddhism so none would oppose her.

Miko's confidence in herself had shattered. _But... that means everything I did... all those deaths... just for power?_ She was torn... _Seiga! It was Seiga's idea! I didn't want power! I wanted peace!_

"We'd both believe you more if you had even considered doubting her. She may have planted the seed, but -you- gave it fertile ground to grow." Satori's words rang true, as they so often did, and the statement shook Miko to her core... She retained enough presence of mind to glare in silent anger at Satori... and Satori glared back, her own doubt and hate still fresh in her mind.

Miko and Satori glared at each other, their insecurities exposed, their hearts bared to each other and themselves… and for the first time in many years, each looking at themselves and finding themselves wanting. There was hate between the two… but at the same time, a profound understanding… Miko had never felt it, but it was familiar to Satori, though different from what she had felt in the past. A poor substitution for meeting another satori, but the closest she had ever come since her sister had closed her eye. A meeting of minds unlike what a normal human can ever achieve… two beings who could never be truly understood by any others, with no barriers between them.

Their glares broke as they realized the level on which they understood each other. They said no words… there was no need to, now. Miko returned to her space, making it clear in her mind just how to do so… she was sending an invitation.

And while Satori didn't feel quite so alone anymore... a deeper longing, long forgotten, stirred deep within her.

* * *

_**At the Scarlet Devil Mansion**_

Satori landed outside the gate… it seemed the gatekeeper was weary, but she still stopped Satori.

"What do you want now?" The gatekeeper was cross… _I'm -not- in a mood to deal with her._

"Then simply allow me through. I've business with the crowd that gathered here recently."

Meiling was torn… _That means she's trying to help Sakuya, but... last time she went inside..._

"I'll have to check with the mistress…." _She caused too much trouble here last time…_Meiling turned to a fairy and grapsed its head between her hands… Satori could feel her twisting the fairy's Qi, giving it a sturdy, steady appearance to Meiling's trained senses.

"Go and tell the mistress Satori Komeiji has returned and wishes entrance. Shall I let her in?"

"Okay, Meiling!" The fairy flew off with a speed and focus unusual to their kind.

"It seems you've got that technique mastered, then? I trust it's been proving useful."

Meiling remained silent, but she grudgingly admitted to herself... _It's so much easier delivering messages around the mansion… and now the fairies actually work to keep it clean… to think the answer was so simple…_

"Sometimes all it takes is a fresh perspective to unlock the key to new techniques." Satori calmly said as she crossed her arms. "It's a shame so few are willing to see through another's eyes…"

_That probably has a lot to do with the fact that they -can't-_. Meiling thought bitterly.

"I thought that, myself until recently. Humans are an interesting sort though."

"No disagreement, there." _What in the world does she mean...? That's a quick change of topic._

"Oh, before I forget, my thanks for healing Alice. I'm glad to see the technique worked."

_I still haven't recovered… that was so draining…_"Yeah, well, she didn't deserve to be in that condition. Of course, I'm finding there are limits to what this sort of healing can do…" Meiling's mind turned again to Sakuya, and in her mind's eye, Sakuya's body was badly injured and healing poorly despite Meiling's best attempts.

"What happened to her, anyway?" Satori asked, and Meiling's mood suddenly became soured. Brief images flashed through her mind of Flandre, with an unusual clarity in her mind. Flandre's unusual aura... so bright it hurt to look at, and a stable rage/guilt color rather than its usual kaleidoscopic arrangement. Flandre impaling Sakuya and slamming her repeatedly against the floor and walls, shattering her bones before throwing her against a wall, where she lay unmoving... Remilia had intercepted Flandre, and while they were fighting, Meiling offered as much of her life as she could spare to Sakuya... it closed the mortal wound she had received, but she was still looking bad... and Meiling had blacked out at that point.

"You think it was my fault." Satori knew. Meiling felt a bit of rage, then calmed down.

"I do. We never had any trouble with her until you came. Whatever you did caused her to go mad." Meiling recalled once again the imposing aura Flandre had that day..._ She's the one that put Sakuya's life in danger, but she also gave me the knowledge I needed to save her life._

"Your healing hasn't brought her to a full recovery yet... is it still working?"

_It's working… her condition was just so bad… and its so taxing to use… that energy needs to come from me, and I only have so much to give…_"It's working… but not as much as I'd like."

"It needs to come from you...? I wonder. You know, I've been thinking about your skills, and… well, I had some time to meditate on them, but this is the first chance I've really had to try and use them. Besides, where better to try than in the presence of a master?"

_It took me thirty years to learn how to control all my chakras, let alone manipulate my Qi beyond that. I'd -like- to see her try. That'll show her there are some things you just have to learn for yourself._"Go ahead and show me, then. I'll tell you just how far you've come." Meiling had a smug grin on her face.

Satori began going through forms she had seen in Meiling's mind, paying careful attention not just to the physical positions, but to the mental state each one represented as well. Meiling watched Satori's aura… and was struck speechless as she watched Satori's aura coalesce around the third eye on her chest, then swirl around it and unlock the chakra there… Satori's movement continued, guiding her Qi as though she had the experience of a master, smoothly moving from chakra to chakra, opening them en route… they would close once again if not held open, but even opening them at all was no minor feat.

Meiling simply watched, noticing flaws in Satori's technique… but any flaws she noticed were almost immediately corrected… Even so, as Satori's Qi reached the base chakra it had been depleted substantially through the long journey and hard work… there was hardly even a wisp left, but it strained mightily, and eventually prevailed… Meiling had just witnessed Satori master the seven chakras in minutes… A task that had taken her decades… But she saw, too, a downside to such rapid completion… Satori was using almost all of her Qi holding her chakras open, leaving precious little to sustain her life.

Satori was quivering, and she looked terribly ill… sweat covered her face, and exhaustion coursed through her body. She had accomplished what many would consider impossible, let alone in such a short period of time, but though her mind and spirit were able to open her body's chakras, her body was having trouble coping with such a sudden and drastic change. She felt… hungry… not for thoughts, or food, or magic… a deeper hunger… She needed -something-, and that need was tearing away at her body.

Meiling rushed up to her and shook her. "You've got to close them! Your body is in no shape for this! What were you thinking!"

Satori felt what she needed nearby…. very close now… and without even truly thinking about what she was doing, she started sucking on it, drawing the essence she was missing into herself.

Meiling suddenly felt ill, and tried to pull her hand away from Satori's shoulders… but couldn't… A master of her own Qi, she could feel… it… something was… something was stealing it! She glared at Satori, who was looking better by the moment, even as Meiling's strength drained.

Satori felt a little better… she wondered if there would be enough essence to fill her hunger… it seemed insatiable. Then she felt the essence… resist! No! A wall was thrown up, the flow ceased, but Satori craved more. She tried moving around the wall, but the source of the essence made a new one wherever she looked… She felt a sharp blow, and everything went black.

* * *

Meiling stood over Satori, still in the position she had delivered her strike. With Satori's concentration gone, her chakras had immediately closed, and her Qi had rushed back into her body… more vibrant than normal. Meiling's normally calm and composed mind boiled in anger.

Satori had already reawakened, though she was still staggered... she had been knocked out for a mere second... and now Satori sensed Meiling's hatred.

Satori's was more vibrant because she had stolen part of Meiling's! _That dirty thief... it wasn't enough to steal my technique? She had to try and steal my life as well! Oh, she'll pay... but first, she's given -me- an idea._ Though Satori read the intent, she was still dizzy from the unusual amount of energy her body had. She felt completely refreshed... better than she ever had... and she didn't even think to move out of Meiling's way... Satori felt sure she could weather any assault.

Meiling grasped Satori in both her hands, around her waist and locking Satori's arms to her side. Then began pulling her Qi away, creating a void in her hands that drew Satori's Qi into Meiling's body. Meiling began to feel better… within a few seconds, she was as healthy as she had been when Satori had arrived… she had balanced out their Qi… but why stop there? Meiling decided she'd take just a bit more.. as compensation for the learning of her techniques…

"What… are you doing?" Satori felt herself weakening unusually… It felt like she had just climbed through the dark blowhole in a few short hours... She read Meiling's mind and watched, realizing the horror of the life theft Meiling was now performing... Satori struggled to break free... Meiling's physical might served her well, however, and her grip remained firm.

Satori's Qi flowed easily into Meiling's body… more and more… Meiling felt amazing… she felt as well as before she had treated Alice… she kept pulling, and soon, she felt better than she ever had, while Satori's Qi was almost as weak now as it had been when had been using it to force her chakras open.

"Stop… stop… let go, please…" Satori begged. she tried to break free, but with Meiling's strength so much stronger, there was no hope… she tried another method…

_Why should I stop here? She wouldn't have... besides, with a bit more, I'll be able to finally fix Sakuya. And besides, its not like she's putting -her- life to good use; it'd be better used by someone like Sakuya..._Meiling's mind rushed. Her path was clear.

Then there was a block… Satori had stolen that technique as well, already? But Meiling already knew the counter to a Qi point-block. She changed her grip on Satori, releasing her for a moment, before wrapping her arms around Satori in a tight hug, an embrace… but not one of warmth.

Meiling moved most of her own Qi to her crown, and let the entire rest of her body drain Satori. Satori had too little energy to make more than a small block... she simply couldn't deal with such a wide area assault in her condition, completely surrounded as she was by the Qi-hungry Meiling, and slowly but surely Satori's Qi was once again filling Meiling with more power than she had ever had before.

"No no... no…" Satori was having trouble breathing, her face buried in Meiling's chest, her arms pinned to her sides, and her legs now hanging limp.

Meiling was suddenly stopped by a voice.

"I will see her now, Meiling. Put her down." Remilia's calm voice commanded. Meiling turned to Remilia, angrily, but maintained the embrace and kept pulling… the rush was incomparable. _Just a bit more..._

"You will put her down -now- Meiling. I have business with her." Meiling resisted the urge to follow to command, powerful though it was… and she kept pulling… A fairy's life force would have been a raging bonfire compared to the candle that now flickered within Satori, though she still clung desperately to life.

Remilia was fed up. She gestured with her hand, grabbing something and pulled, -hard-. "-STOP-"

And Meiling couldn't resist. She released Satori, then glared at Remilia… confident she could defeat even a vampire now, with the energy she had.

"That's a look I haven't seen for a long time, Meiling. I wouldn't try it, if I were you." _It seems she fits in even more at the vampire's mansion now… but it seems she has forgotten her place._

Satori simply lay on her back in the snow, unable to muster the strength to move more than the smallest bit as she heard the scene unfold around her, and turned her head and eye to watch.

Meiling compared her aura with Remilia's, and laughed madly… _Such a shrimp! There's no way she could-_Meiling's thoughts were roughly interrupted by a sudden blow to her gut, causing her to lose her grip on some of the Qi as it flowed out through her breath. She started entering a fighting stance, but the vampire wasn't there… then another blow knocked her stumbling forward, coughing, as a tremendous blow struck her back. She focused on the Qi of her assailant, and struck out to meet the next attack… but it was too strong, and only Meiling's own mastery over her form and her unusually powerful Qi prevented her arm from complete destruction at the blow, instead merely cleanly breaking once. Still reeling from the impact, she felt small cuts, tens, then hundreds, then a thousand, all minor scrapes, but through each one leaked out some Qi… Soon Meiling had no more than normal, but the scrapes had closed as the Qi had fled them. She looked around, suddenly worried…

"I take it you're finished, now?" Remilia said, holding Meiling's face in her gaze… Meiling couldn't help but think… _If… if I took -her- power… I'd be unstoppable…_but unable to break her gaze away from Remilia's, the thought faded, and Meiling suddenly seemed herself again… well, mostly…

Satori could tell that Meiling had tasted power… and had enjoyed that taste… her heart had changed… just a little... there was a quiet little hunger in a corner of her heart...

Remilia, sensing the change immediately, released Meiling. "Fix up your arm and resume your duties. I'll deal with the satori."

Satori tried to will her body into moving, but there was no spare energy there… she felt empty, loose and cold… as though she had become the snow in which she lay… she struggled to even breath, her breath coming out in short gasps as Remilia hoisted her up, using a wing and an arm to carry her.

Meiling saluted with her good hand, and considered her newfound ability. _I lost control... but now that I know what expect, I should be fine. And now I don't need to worry about running out of energy when healing Sakuya! I can just take it…_Meiling looked over her shoulder at her mistress… And focused her gaze at the sad blue, pink and purple rag that hung over her shoulders, just conscious enough to hear one more thought before the mansion's doors closed… a thought that sent chills down Satori's spine.

_…from those who won't be missed._

_**In Remilia's Private Study**_

Satori's exhausted form was unceremoniously dropped into a chair, where she slouched, unable and unwilling to muster the energy needed to appear dignified… she just wanted to sleep.

_Now she's mine… time to close this loophole before it comes back to bite me again. I'd better work quick though... she seems like she's on her way out._"Seems you got yourself in a bit of a scrape with our gatekeeper. Lucky for you I was there to save you, hm?"

"mmmph…?" Satori had difficulty getting out even 'thanks', though she was far from convinced, and the thoughts leaking from Remilia's mind certainly didn't calm her.

_Perhaps I should have let Meiling finish her off… No… I don't need the Yama's eye turned here… I've got enough problems already. Of course, most of them are her fault to begin with, so…_ Remilia was strongly considering killing Satori right then and there. _No… Anyone other than Flandre would leave a trace and soul behind… which means she'd tell the Yama, the Yama would come here…_She sighed…

"I've decided to let you live. But you must sign a contract." Satori's heart sank as Remilia continued.

"None other than myself can be allowed to know that I can null contracts." _If word gets out…_"After all, if everyone thinks spellcards are useless, then who will bother with them? And you… you like them quite a lot, don't you?"

Satori averted her eyes from Remilia's piercing gaze…

_After all, a weak youkai like her wouldn't stand a chance in a normal fight. _Satori felt rage welling up within her, and she almost managed to scrounge up the energy to begin standing… but collapsed back into the chair within moments, furious now at her body for failing her so utterly… Remilia's smug smirk didn't make things any better, as she handed Satori a contract.

"Now, sign it… here, I'll even help you." Remilia gashed open one of Satori's hands, spilling blood freely.

"I don't think the Yama will be pleased with your death, but I'm sure she would agree that this secret needed to be kept." Remilia said, fully confident of her assessment. And Satori could see why… without spellcards, things would return to how they had been… and Satori of all people had no desire to return to that time… they were a comfortable safety net, especially for youkai like her…

Weak youkai…

So weak… she struggled to move her right index finger to her left, slashed open palm to retrieve blood, and began to sign her name in a shaky, unstable hand… but Remilia's eagerness was… far too great… she wasn't interested in protecting weak youkai… she wanted something else… Satori's third eye gazed... as her hand hovered over the paper, paused.

Remilia was longing for a past glory… _Sign it…_ having true followers beneath her… _Sign it…_ Respect… no competition… _Sign it!_ She could protect them all...Satori hesitated… Remilia's anticipation unnerving the mind reader… _Sign it!_ Remilia's mind was beginning to reveal some larger plan… If her spellcards were always used… _SIGN IT! _And spellcards bound people's fates as a contract...

"SIGN IT NOW!" And she could alter those contracts freely…

Remilia grabbed Satori by neck of her shirt and started shaking her… Remilia knew that once Satori signed the contract, there would be nothing to stop her… Ran and Yukari would forget… Satori would be dead… No one would know… so she -could- alter contracts freely.

"-SIGN THE CONTRACT-!" Remilia shouted in Satori's face, as much force behind her words as she could muster. Satori moved… started her finger back towards her signature, Remilia's personality overwhelming her own fatigued self.

_Yes…_Satori was seated once again, finger over her signature… she picked up where she had left off…

_Yes…! _If spellcards were always used… and bound peoples fates as a contract… and Remilia could alter those contracts easily…

Satori continued signing… thoughtlessly watching Remilia with all three of her eyes, heavily drooped as they were. She was too tired to put the pieces together, but Remilia's mind did it for her….

_I'll be able to control everyone's fate perfectly._

The last thing Satori heard as darkness overtook her, her body finally unable to maintain consciousness at all, was a shriek of childish, impotent rage. Satori's last shards of life continued to leak out from the cut in her hand… onto the contract beneath, her blood smearing her nearly signature...

* * *

_**?**_

She saw a large crowd… normal thoughts among them… recently dead, it seemed… many of them had mundane plans for later in the week, while others had recent memories of a terrible war… Was she back home? That must be it… that's what most of the spirits there were thinking when she left.

She floated along… there was surprisingly little hate… it seemed no one recognized her… she approached a fine structure… Someone probably added on to her home while she was away… she saw some truly powerful hearts within… she felt them… their compassion and love… their pain and loss… they had lost everything but each other… but needed nothing more. It filled Satori with a longing she had never before felt, and a satisfaction she had long sought… she wished fervently to be part of that…

Then she sensed a couple other hearts further in… she went towards them… one was a free heart, though trapped within a cage… and the other was unforgettable, though she had only met it once. What is -she- doing here? The thought echoed back as she was seen… she heard a tray clang to the ground and a teacup shatter…

_What is -she- doing here!_

Then darkness.


	9. Chapter 9

_**Within the Netherworld, At Hakugyokurou.**_

Reimu was still in shock…

"What's the matter, Reimu? You look like you've seen a ghost." Yuyuko chuckled at her own joke.

"You can't tell me you didn't see her! It must have been Satori! Third eye and everything!"

"Quiet down… do try not to disturb our guests. And look, you've ruined the tea ceremony… now you'll have to start over. " Yuyuko admonished Reimu, gesturing to the broken teacup on the ground. "And then you'll have to repair the set… tsk… it seems you've got your work cut out for you."

"I'm not joking, Yuyuko! Something's going on out there, and it must have reached into the former hell if -she's- here! It's something huge, and you're making me sit here and learn how to perform a tea ceremony!"

"You already lost the duels, Reimu… I gave you plenty of chances. You've nearly managed to repair another set of clothes enough to be almost wearable. You're welcome to give it another try, then, but I must say I've really grown quite fond of your tea, so I think you'll be here a while. Besides, its far safer here… You can't die." Yuyuko gave her usual vacant smile.

Reimu wanted nothing more than to shake the stupid out of Yuyuko, but even if the spellcard contract hadn't prevented that, she realized the futility of trying to wrestle a ghost.

She sighed. It may have just been a hallucination, after all… she was under a lot of stress. It made sense… Satori was an expert at exposing insecurities and stoking inner fires… making people lose control… Reimu bent over to scoop up the fragments, only to hear a sharp "Tsk" from Yuyuko… right, right… She went to fetch a broom to sweep them up properly instead, though a bit of doubt still echoed in her mind…

"What am I missing out there…?"

* * *

_**Scarlet Devil Mansion: Guest Wing.**_

Reisen had explained to Udonge the situation on the moon with a heavy heart... Udonge quietly grieved for her lost people, but there was nothing she could do for them... so she focused on the many patients that she -could- help.

Remilia stormed into the room , startling the pair of Lunar rabbits quite badly, while Marisa and Sakuya lay unmoving. Udonge in particular was rattled… The fact that Remilia was carrying Satori's corpse wasn't particularly reassuring, either… Remilia dropped the body at Udonge's feet.

"Fix her." Remilia's face was almost as red as her dress, flushed with anger… Udonge could only imagine what the poor satori had done to get her that angry, but knew just by looking at Satori that it was a lost cause. The girl was already dead…

Remilia's glare didn't budge, though, so Udonge studied Satori, checked her breath… there wasn't any. Wait… no, there was… So faint, she'd never have been able to sense it without her well honed senses. Time was of the essence. Marisa might die in a few days… Satori had one foot in the netherworld already… Udonge had seen corpses that looked healthier than this…

Udonge cursed Medicine Melancholy yet again… if they were at Eientei, there would be plenty of resources, but here at the mansion… Reisen, meanwhile continued tending carefully to Marisa as Udonge simply explained, after a brief examination of Satori's bleeding hand.

"She's going to die. Somehow her blood's gone bad. We don't have any blood, nor any time for a transfusion even if we did. It would take minutes to get enough into her to save her, let alone get the bad blood out… minutes she doesn't have. You've killed her." Udonge said flatly… glaring at Remilia.

"She needs blood? Good thing there's plenty here, then." And Remilia, within an eyeblink, had cut open an artery in Reisen's neck. Reisen clutched desperately at it, eyes wide open, managing only a few startled sounds before the shock stole her consciousness away. Remilia caught some of the stream and tasted it.

"Good. Same type... and far fresher." Remilia noted, then gestured towards the injury.

While the blood sprayed violently out from the injury, it quickly steadied into a stream and flowed into a similar injury Remilia had meanwhile made in Satori's neck. A sick blackish-blue blood flew of Satori's wound out at a similar rate, covering the room. Several smaller cuts Remilia had quickly opened across Satori's body displayed a similar, though smaller effect… Reisen's blood flowed cleanly into each of the cuts, while Satori's bad blood flew out… Udonge watched in shock… then desperately started fumbling for something to stanch the horrific bleeding.

Satori was looking… well, a bit better, anyway. She looked alive again, though only just… The small cuts on Satori had closed, so Remilia stopped channeling the blood… mere seconds had passed.

That didn't stop the flow, though, and the pool of blood grew at Reisen's neck with alarming speed, and while Satori's own was leaking out far more slowly, it was still draining quickly through the same neck injury that had been used to put it in. Udonge was starting to stitch up Reisen's horrific wound, but Remilia tore her away and set her to Satori.

"-FIX HER-!" Remilia raged. Udonge cursed and began stitching up Satori's neck wound. Remilia seemed satisfied once Udonge had finished with Satori and left, finally allowing Udonge to set to closing Reisen's grievous wound… she was turning pale, and the pool of her blood was continuing to grow, though at a much slower pace… Reisen had already lost a great deal of blood.

Udonge worked through the steady flow of blood, no longer a spray, and managed to close up the injury… Udonge growled, but took a deep breath and calmed herself. Sure, instead of treating two patients with someone helping her, she was now treating four with no help… and three were in critical condition… the three that Remilia, her host, cared for the least. Youmu and Keine were still busy tending the others… but Alice was currently resting and Udonge had no hope of treating all four at once… Udonge shouted down the hall.

"Alice! I need help in here… things just got complicated. Bring more stitches and bandages… disinfectant, too." Udonge shouted. She received an affirmative and set back to work tending the satori and the sole survivor of the most recent lunar war.…

Marisa's chances of survival had just dropped a great deal.

* * *

_**A few Hours Later**_

Satori woke up feeling extremely tired. She had just had a very odd dream…

She was back in the Scarlet Devil Mansion, judging from the painfully red walls, floor, ceiling, and furniture. Her head was clear, but it felt like she had just climbed Youkai mountain in an hour, without using magic at all. The last thing she clearly remembered was opening her chakras using the Gatekeeper's mind as a guide… it had been very draining…

Draining…? Satori remembered draining… vaguely… what had happened? She had met with Remilia? She couldn't remember why. There were some other things mixed in here and there… some sort of fevered dream, she supposed. She put it out of her mind for now, making a mental note to see what she could remember with hypnosis, later.

She sensed several others in the room, though most seemed to be sleeping… Alice and Udonge were the only ones awake… Marisa, Sakuya, and… another person she hadn't met yet… Satori turned towards that sleeping form to observe it with her two mundane eyes… another lunar rabbit. It seemed something had torn open her neck… for that matter, Satori's own neck itched. she moved to scratch it, but Udonge noticed, and panicked, slamming Satori's hand back down quickly.

"Don't pick at it… I don't think you can afford to lose any more blood." Satori saw through Udonge's eyes that she sported a thick bandage, under which Udonge could still visualize the terrible wound. She continued.

"Thank goodness you finally woke up. I thought you were dead when Remilia brought you in." Udonge's memory flashed a brief image of Satori's limp form from hours ago, revealing that her statement was no exaggeration.

"And you brought me back? I owe you my life, I suppose." Satori humbly admitted… Yes, she had been humbled a few too many times lately to let her pride get in the way right now, especially against one who had clearly invested a lot into keeping her alive… And speaking of humility, she felt a contract tugging at her...

"You might get a laugh out of this... while I was in the condition Marisa is right now, I fought Cirno and lost handily. I suppose that'll teach me for trying to fight with a concussion and a body that can hardly move."

While a bit of a grin did appear on Udonge's face, she was still more concerned with her patients, especially one who had invested quite a lot herself into Satori's treatment… Satori turned to the unconscious, pale lunar rabbit that lay near her.

Udonge's mind was wracked with worry over her companion… an image of blood spraying from Reisen's neck assaulted Udonge every time she had to look at Reisen. Thankfully, Alice was Reisen's primary attendant, so Udonge was able to bury herself in treating Satori's many smaller injuries, and though Udonge had no idea how Satori had come to be in such a state… Satori had a hunch…

"I think I might have pushed myself too hard… Meiling noticed my Qi dropping a lot… then, I…" Now Satori remembered the hunger… and remembered basking in the warm essence… pulling it into herself… It had been so delicious at the time… even now she found herself looking at Udonge hungrily…

Satori shook her head, trying to clear it… _What does she mean? _"Are you all right? What's wrong?"

Satori was disgusted with herself. She was hungry, and not for food. "I… ugh…" draining Udonge to a husk would be a terrible way to repay her for saving her life… but it would be so easy… Satori would be back on her feet in minutes, ready to resume her duties…

_'From those who won't be missed.' _The thought echoed in Satori's mind… And she looked up at Udonge…

"I'll be back…" Satori said, realizing her magical potential was still mostly untapped. Satori flew out the door, carrying her body with magic… Udonge started after her, then looked back in the room at her remaining patients, and decided to stay behind, instead calling out.

"Youmu! Satori's trying to get away!" _She's pushing herself too hard again!_

But with her magical energy full, Satori had no difficulty at all traversing most of the mansion in under a second.

* * *

_**The Halls of the Scarlet Devil Mansion**_

Satori wandered through the halls… she knew what she had to do… and she had to do it before she ran out of magical energy… She saw her target…

_I wonder if anyone fell for the water trap I set up yet…_The fairy was casually floating along, dressed in a maid uniform and picturing a bucket balanced precariously on an ajar door.

She didn't even sense Satori, who caught her in a hug, and using her newfound skill with Qi… began to feast.

The fairy screamed, and struggled to break free, but even Satori's tired, weak body was able to hold the fairy long enough to turn the tides and get a solid grip. They both fell to the ground, and Satori drank from the fairy, whose skin turned from a healthy flesh tone to a pale white, her pupils dilating, her breath becoming more and more shallow. Her mind and body screaming in unison for Satori to

"Stop! Please stop! What are you... doing? Please…" _Let… me… let me go… please… just…_

The fairy's protestations quieting and eventually ceasing, Satori drank and drank, feeling stronger by the moment even as the fairy's torment ate at Satori's mind… until the very last bit of the fairy's life vanished into Satori, now completely refreshed. The craving was gone… but Satori looked at the dead husk at her feet… and her stomach nearly leapt out of her mouth as she turned away. The fairy's skin was drawn tight, a pitiable look of horror on her face… She looked again at the corpse and immediately regretted it, her stomach lurching again at the sight.

And only now did she notice Remilia standing a little ways off, sporting a wide grin.

_Well, well, well… It seems someone's up and about sooner than expected._ "How did you like her? It's a little off-putting the first time, isn't it? Don't worry… After all, this is a home of vampires." _Perhaps she'd like to join the mansion's staff? _

"No!" Satori cried out. "No! I'm not a vampire! I'm a satori! I… I didn't want to do this… But I had to! I need to be on my feet!" Satori was trying to deceive herself, but she realized there were other spells she could have used to heal... the thought that she had just murderered needlessly horrified her.

_A few more days wouldn't have killed her…_"You were hungry, and you ate. There's nothing wrong with that." Remilia's smug attitude was making Satori defensive.

"But… her -life-…" Satori remained revolted, looking at the hands that had betrayed her. Remilia was already scheming…

"Well, it's up to you to believe what your want, but something tells me you don't want others to learn of this…" _People already hate her… I can't even -imagine- how many would want her dead on sight if this got out. _The fairy's body had since disintegrated; fairy corpses only tended to last a short while before being resurrected... Satori fervently hoped this fairy -would- resurrect.

Satori thought of that… it wasn't bad enough that she alienated people with her third eye… she shuddered again… And Remilia's mind triggered a memory…

_Now she's mine… she signs the contract, and…_Satori remembered, now… remembered why she had memories in Remilia's office… remembered now, Remilia's purpose in making spellcards ubiquitous. Now Remilia could ruin what little reputation Satori had, though… make her seen not merely as a nuisance, but as a threat to life… and a terribly large one. Remilia would have no difficulty at all spinning Satori's public image into one of a monster to be killed on sight… Satori's mission for the Yama would become impossible. And what would her pets think? Even they refrained from killing and only ate corpses...

An odd heart came running down the hall. "There you are!" It called out.

Remilia turned to Satori… "I've a contract for you to sign. I'll be waiting in my office… don't make me wait for long…" _Because I'll be getting in contact with the tengu just as soon as morning comes, otherwise. _

Satori knew from Remilia's mind the full weight of that threat… just how quickly and widely the news would spread…

Then Remilia left as Youmu reached Satori.

* * *

Satori turned to the half-ghost… Oddly, her heart was in both spirit and body at once… Her spirit and body perceived things differently, but Youmu had no difficulty sorting out the extra input. To Satori, it came out as a strange sort of echo. Youmu was a fairly dim person, but had tremendous loyalty towards her master, Yuyuko, who always seemed to be in a corner of her mind… she also lacked confidence and disliked being left out of the loop as she always seemed to be.

"There you are! I've been looking all over for you!" _She's looking better than I thought. Perhaps Udonge was just being overprotective?_

Satori winced… "No… I was bad off… I'm better now…" She did her best to push Remilia's jabs out of her mind for the moment.

_Thank goodness. _"You should probably still come back with me, though. Reisen should see that you're fine… she's got enough on her hands already…" Youmu suggested, and Satori nodded as they started walking back to the guest wing... Satori felt the contract pulling on her...

"I may as well get this out of the way now. Let me give you a word of advice from someone who's been there: if you're sporting a concussion, multiple lacerations, severe blood loss, 3 shattered limbs, and are completely soaked and nearly dead from exposure... don't fight an ice fairy. It -almost- goes without saying, but I lost that fight." Satori sighed. Some times, it made a good taunt. Other times, it made her look like a fool. The contract would allow no exceptions, though.

"Why are... you telling me this."

"I lost a spellcard duel with her, and letting everyone know that was the terms. It's rather annoying. Anyway, I'm not sure what to do next... it'll be a while before Reisen's Remedy is done, yet... Maybe I should just go back underground... Everywhere I go, disaster seems to follow..." Satori started.

"That's not true!" Youmu tried to provide encouragement... but her heart wasn't in it. _Maybe that would be best... _

Satori's shoulders sank. "Yes, I should probably just stop causing trouble... Everyone's been warned about the invasion by now, I suspect..."

"Ummm... ummm..." Youmu was trying to think of encouraging words... _The Youkai Mountain didn't seem to say anything when I was turned away by them..._ "You could tell-"

"I suspect Kanako already knows... but I suppose those living on the mountain might not. Of course, they're the reason I was underground to begin with... perhaps they're willing to let the grudge go in the face of something like this..."

"Yeah, see, there you go!" _I wonder what the story behind that is. I can take a guess, though, I suppose._

"Your guess is correct. The Tengu sequestered us away for their own reasons. Theirs is a society of secrets... built around keeping, finding, and using them. Of course they wouldn't like satori living on their mountain... It gets a bit complicated, but that's the short version."

As they walked along, Satori realized something seemed familiar about Youmu, though this was the first time they'd met… Then it struck Satori, and she laughed a bit at the memorable mental image, despite her mood.

"What's so funny?"

"I was just wondering where I've seen those clothes before. I had this dream while Reisen was treating me a bit ago, and Reimu was wearing them, only they didn't fit at all. She looked -so ridiculous-. This other lady seemed to agree… I can't remember what she looked like, but she really seemed to be enjoying Reimu's meals. Her heart was beautifully tragic, too… a free spirit trapped within a cage, trying so hard to fly within it."

Youmu looked disgruntled. "Well, excuse me for looking ridiculous."

"No, no… it's just that they didn't fit her at all. The clothes were several sizes too small. You know, come to think of it, where -is- Reimu? I haven't seen her since I came to the surface, and even she'd be up and about trying to fix the incident at this point... though I suspect she'd think -I- was this incident."

"Yeah, I haven't seen her since I left the netherworld, myself. She was going in to pay Yuyuko…" Youmu recognized that might be the woman Satori had described.. "A... visit…" _But if that's Yuyuko… then… was it a dream? She looked... really awful at the time..._

They both stopped in their tracks, the smirk on Satori's face vanishing.

"Youmu… when did you leave the netherworld? A few weeks ago, you say... And no one's seen her since? If she were in the netherworld, wouldn't that mean she's dead?"

"Yeah, but… the border's open… she should be able to just fly out…" _She's not the sort who would __dawdle in the netherworld for a few weeks while an incident was going on… and she was in incident resolution mode, no doubt about it._

They picked up their pace, worry filling their hearts.

* * *

_**Scarlet Devil Mansion's Guest Wing.**_

Satori and Youmu reached the hallway, and Youmu shouted ahead of them that "Satori is back… close the doors to the poisoned's rooms". Reisen had made it clear that such was to be done when Satori was brought back. She heard a door close and saw Keine step out of it.

Satori looked at the blue haired human… and saw a normal human heart, with a love of teaching and history… Satori also saw the heart of a hakutaku, locked away, although Keine didn't identify primarily with it,… Some sort of shapeshifter? No… A bit more reading revealed that Keine was a were-hakutaku, her transformations driven by the moon's phase… infected, given that she didn't identify primarily as one. She turned and greeted the pair.

"Oh! You're looking better than Reisen described." _I wonder where she ran off to... or why, for that matter._

Satori had a more burning question in her mind. "Keine, have you seen Reimu in the past few weeks?"

_Reimu… no… she hasn't even been at the shrine from what I heard…_"No-"

Satori looked to Youmu pointedly. "I think she really might be there…" Keine tilted her head, curious.

"Oh? You've found her? Good, Akyuu was looking for her input-" Keine pictured a young adult with purple hair and fine silk clothes.

"If my guess is right, she's in the Netherworld." Satori explained. Youmu nodded in agreement… and Keine looked suddenly very concerned… Satori knew why…

_The Hakurei Shrine maiden keeps up the barrier to the outside world… if she's dead…_"Oh no…" Great… -another- crisis threatening Gensokyo… They just kept piling up, didn't they? Satori wondered how this delicate house of cards had managed to keep standing for so long.

Youmu didn't seem to grasp the weight of the situation, but neither of the other two explained it.

_We need to contact Yukari, get Reimu out of there! _"We need to-"

"Do you know how? I've heard about Yukari, but she seems difficult to reach."

_Her Shikigami can usually be reached. She seems to like fried tofu, and takes it as a sign she wishes to be spoken with…_"I think we can reach-"

"Good, start setting that up. If it's as dire as you think it is, we've little time to waste. I need to prepare for a meeting, myself, but let me know if you get in touch with her. Also, I lost to Cirno, and I'm really beginning to regret that duel."

Youmu and Keine headed off... Youmu explaining the bizarre non-sequitur regarding the fairy to Keine. Satori stepped into the room with Udonge and Alice, busily watching over Marisa, Sakuya and Reisen.

"What were you think-" Reisen immediately started upon noticing Satori… but she stopped as soon as she noticed Satori's perfect health. _What happened? She wasn't even able to stand when she left…_

"I… I used a technique… to… heal." Satori explained hesitantly.

"Then why run off? It's not like you couldn't have cast your spell here…" Reisen questioned, while she and Alice kept working… Marisa looked ready to expire. Reisen, despite her best efforts, suspected Marisa would only last another few days at best. There were just too many injuries…

Satori couldn't hold it back any longer. "It would have killed you. It drains the life of another to restore one's own. I have other healing spells… I could have used those… but I wasn't thinking straight at the time. And no, I'm afraid none of those will help Marisa terribly much... They were developed for use on youkai, specifically. I'm sure you're aware that they would have disastrous results on a human."

Reisen realized the truth of the latter point, but she gave Satori a sharp look of utter disgust… life was too valuable to simply steal. And… that meant… _Who did she drain from? Who suffered so she didn't have to?_

Satori left that question unaddressed, instead answering another one in Reisen's mind.

"I think we might be able to save Marisa. I can use something similar to what Meiling's been doing to Sakuya…"

Udonge recalled Meiling's healing touch, that had greatly accelerated Sakuya's healing… It had been a great help. Sakuya's bones had needed to be broken again and carefully set properly, and Meiling's healing had made it take merely a few days instead of months or years. Sakuya still was far from healed, but at least she wouldn't be permanently disfigured, now.

"Why didn't you say so! We might be able to save Marisa with it!" Satori hated giving lengthy explanations…

"Well, put simply, I don't think it will work. At least, it wouldn't be practical. Marisa's a human, obviously. I'm obviously not." Satori gestured to Sakuya. "I suspect the reason Meiling's healing is so ineffective on Sakuya is because of this difference. The only reason it's working as well as it is is because Sakuya's so thoroughly bound to Remilia's service… And I suspect she's as much a youkai as a human, if the amount of energy Meiling has been donating is any indication. She'll likely awaken with some control over her Qi, given Meiling's nature. I just hope her introduction to it goes better than my own."

Udonge was listening attentively as Satori continued.

"In any case, Marisa has no such connection. Even if she were a youkai, my Qi would hardly be enough to heal her any real amount… it might buy her a day at best. It shames me to admit it, but I simply do not have nearly enough to heal someone as vigorous as Marisa."

Udonge looked disappointed. _She's going to die, then._

"I'm not finished… Keine -is- mostly human. Its possible Marisa won't reject her life force... but it's also possible she may become a were-creature... at the very least, she's going to become heavily effected by the moon. If a youkai donates to her, she'll take on a fair bit of that youkai's nature... but she would likely survive... as a half youkai at least." Satori looked to Alice… and adjusted her own Qi, using it to detect Alice's… comparing it to the feel of Marisa's… They were eerily in tune with each other, as she suspected.

"Alice would probably be the most obvious choice for a donor, unless you can find a willing human in time. Her nature is not far removed from Marisa's own."

_Let's do it! _Udonge was thrilled. Alice was… conflicted.

"You're perfectly right to be uncertain, Alice. Marisa doesn't want to become a youkai... probably not a half youkai either, and certainly neither through someone -else's- decision. She also doesn't want to die. To make things worse, she's currently incapable of deciding for herself. Udonge seems to think you have a few days, so give it some thought… Whether or not to support her so, and if so... who will donate." Satori looked at Marisa... one of two reasons she was here now, and not becoming a flower in Yuuka's garden.

"I would even be willing, if necessary, though it would involve a rather experimental technique for me to provide enough energy to heal her. I suspect you'll find many youkai would be willing to offer most of their life to Marisa, but few humans would. A strong enough youkai could probably get her back up on her feet, but it would be draining... as I've said, it's much less efficient using a youkai donor... a large part of the Qi ends up being used to change her nature enough for the rest to have an effect."

Satori turned to Alice with a simple request. "In the meantime, I need some dolls, Alice."

Alice tossed Satori a few simple straw dolls, saying no words… pondering what she should do. _She'd hate me for it. Probably forever… but then, how would she feel about me leaving her to die? One way or another, it seems our friendship is over.  
_

Satori caught the dolls and left for an empty room. "Let me or the gatekeeper know what the decision is… she should be able to perform this as well, though she may be unwilling, given the identity of the patient. I wish Marisa's own heart were more clear on the subject. While you're thinking on it, ask Udonge about how I lost to Cirno... that'll burn a few minutes."

* * *

_**An Empty Room in the Guest Wing.**_

Satori had some preparations to do. She was going to face Remilia, and she was going to try and defy her. She saw what had happened the last time Remilia saw Satori as a threat. This time, Satori was prepared, though… she knew Remilia well… she had some time to get ready, and she knew Remilia's goal... she knew Remilia's plan for their meeting later... she had been considering it already when they met in the hall… Satori hoped for everyone's sake that her plan worked. And she felt vile for even considering it, but she had few other options.

* * *

_**Remilia's Private Study**_

As the night progressed, Remilia sat, patiently. She knew Satori would come. And she knew Satori would be ready to pull some tricks. And Remilia knew that Satori would sign the contract, and that the netherworld would have a visitor from this very room tonight… and it wasn't going to be Remilia. Oh yes, she had manipulated the outcome of this meeting carefully… hours well spent, though, considering what was at stake. She couldn't help but grin. It was all coming together.

She looked at the door as Keine and Youmu rushed in, looking desperate. Remilia was a bit surprised, but no matter…

"What do you two want?" Remilia decided some maids would be losing some privileges for revealing the location of her study the unimportant guests, but put that aside for now.

"Reimu's dead!" Youmu blurted out. Remilia responded in laughter.

"Ha! What in Gensokyo could have killed -that- girl? Nice try, though."

Keine added in. "It's not a joke… We think Reimu is in the Netherworld… and may have been trapped there for some time. We need to tell Yukari!"

"You and I know both know Yukari's not awake. I suppose you want me to try and get in touch with her shikigami, don't you? Which fairy told you I can cast a spell to call her attention?"

"Huh?" Youmu and Keine both looked confused. "We… just were going to ask you for some fried tofu… but if you can summon her, that would be great! You understand the importance of the situation, right?"

Remilia cursed herself for letting that slip, but sighed… She did indeed understand the importance of getting a hold of Ran. Fine, then. "Yes, yes… I'll call her…" Remilia reached into her desk and unwrapped some fried tofu… it simply wasn't proper to not be prepared. She began to channel some energy and sent it out, turning on a beacon for Ran to respond to.

"There. She'll come when she's avai-" Remilia stated, but much to her surprise was cut off by Ran's appearance.

"What is it, Remilia?" Ran took the tofu and both Youmu and Keine were ignored for the moment.

"It seems these two believe Reimu may be trapped in the Netherworld." Remilia answered, gesturing to Youmu and Keine, who shrank back a little under Ran's massive, imposing form.

"Is that so…? Fine, I'll lay their fears to rest… but this had best not be without reason." Ran cut open the air, revealing one of Yukari's gaps, and stepped through…

Well, she tried, anyway. She got partway in, but… couldn't go in more than a few inches… she looked confused, then tried again with a different gap. The same result, but this time she tried forcing her way through… and made no progress. Her confusion changed to clear surprise.

"She actually… -is- doing it… I can't believe it… And it's been well over a week..." Ran said under her breath before turning to the others… "It seems the boundary of the Netherworld has been restored. I can't break through it without Yukari's explicit permission… and in light of some new evidence, I -really- don't wish to disturb her. What she's doing is of critical importance."

Youmu spoke up. "I can… I can go through. I've crossed it plenty of times even before Yukari weakened it…"

Ran considered, then nodded "Go then, and Ask Yuyuko if she's seen Reimu. I will leave the gap open for a few minutes. Make it quick."

Youmu nodded and held her spirit half close to her body, and stepped through with only a small amount of resistance.

Remilia sat, annoyed, Keine stood, worried, and Ran loomed, impassive.

* * *

_**In the Netherworld, at Hakugyokurou**_

"I knew she'd come for me eventually!" Reimu cheered at the signs of the gap opening near them. Yuyuko looked surprised.

"Finally, I can get out there and -do something-" Reimu moved up the the gap… "What's taking her so long though?… normally she just comes right through."

"Perhaps the border being up is giving her some trouble. Odd that she'd come by though… It's not even spring, yet." Yuyuko was considering something…

Then a foot stepped through… and Reimu's heart sank to the ground when she saw that it belonged to Youmu, who finished stepping through moments later, looking relieved.

"Youmu!" Yuyuko said cheerfully, her confusion cleared. "I guess you were right… it was getting a little crowded, haha!" Yuyuko gestured out the door, and Youmu saw not merely ghosts, but people sprawling around… she recognized the Lunarian outfits from her time on the moon…

"Well, yeah… We're still.. working on the situation. We were just wondering where Reimu-" Just then Youmu saw Reimu, dressed in her clothes from decades ago, and understood why Satori had laughed despite her sour mood… she couldn't help doing so herself.

"Oh I wish I had a camera… the tengu would have a field day with this!"

"It's not as though your more recent outfits fit me any better."

"My… what?" Youmu wiped a tear from her eye as her laughing died down.

"Yeah. They're all destroyed now. You can thank your mistress for that." Reimu smiled as Youmu's previous mirth disappeared. Youmu shot Yuyuko a glance.

"What."

"Reimu's the one who doesn't know when to quit dueling. She insisted on continuing, and before we knew it, all your clothes were all torn up beyond use. Well, except that one, obviously. I decided she should stop there."

"I… You… Argh! Nevermind! But… how did you die, Reimu? And why are all these Lunarians here?"

"I -didn't- die! I just came here to beat up Yuyuko right after I saw you, and I couldn't leave!"

"Yeah, Ran says the boundary to the Netherworld has been restored. She couldn't even gap in here… and she's not willing to disturb Yukari at the moment either. Ummm… But… if you're dead…"

"I'm not dead."

"But if you -were-..."

Reimu shrugged "Then the Great Hakurei Barrier would fade." Yukari had made this public knowledge. Reimu wasn't sure if it was true, but everyone else seemed to believe it, which was good enough for her. After all, if -she- died, what would she care if the barrier faded?

"I… see…" Youmu looked really concerned, but Yuyuko seemed to take it in stride.

"To answer your other question, they just appeared… Shikieiki said something about the Sanzu being too crowded, so they had to dump a whole bunch of demons and these guys here." Reimu had approached the gap and started walking through… only to be stopped by the barrier.

"Like I said, the Netherworld boundary is restored. I'll try to send the Prismriver sisters to keep you all informed, I suppose. This looks like it could get complicated."

"Whoa whoa! You can't leave me here! I'm still alive, I should be able to get back! I mean, you said the Prismrivers can!"

Youmu was unconvinced. "I'm only able to cross because I'm both alive and dead. They can cross because they are neither. The Lunarian's may actually be able to leave, but I'm not sure… if they got here from being killed than probably not. Best not tell them, anyway... it might give them false hope."

Youmu moved back towards the gate, but Reimu stood in her way. "You're getting me out of here."

"I already told you I -can't-. Even Ran couldn't get in here! You'll have to wait until Yukari finished whatever she's doing, and who knows how long that'll take, or if she'll even be willing to open the barrier again."

Reimu showed no signs of moving. Youmu knew she didn't have much time left… she could see the gap beginning to close already, as a warning. So she shoved Reimu unceremoniously to the ground, and before she could get back up, darted through the gap.

Everyone else seemed to think Reimu was dead... They were even taking measures to ensure Gensokyo remained in her absence... As much as she hated to admit it, the world was moving on without her. No... that can't be right! It couldn't move on without her! It was literally built around her life! How could they just leave her here! It wasn't fair! Hadn't she done her job, worked so hard to keep Gensokyo safe!

Reimu cursed Yukari for opening the barrier and closing with Reimu inside... Reimu cursed Yuyuko for delaying her in the netherworld and humiliating her... she cursed Ran for not freeing her, Youmu for being able to travel back and forth, Marisa, for being in the action... She cursed them all, loudly and for several minutes before she was too angry for any words to continue expressing her rage.

"My... such language! You'll hardly be a proper woman if you can't control your mouth." Yuyuko scolded Reimu teasingly. Reimu shot Yuyuko an all-too-familiar death glare, before launching into another rant, this time directed at Yuyuko... who sat, still sipping tea calmly. Yorihime and her husband peered into the room and decided to share each other's company elsewhere and leave the shrine maiden to her own devices for a while.

* * *

_**Remilia's Private Study**_

Youmu had just finished explaining the situation.. Ran was becoming rather concerned.

"It seems she -is- dead, then. And the Lunarians? I don't suppose you saw either of these among them?" An image of Toyohime and Yorihime appeared… Youmu nodded.

"Yeah, that one was there… seemed she was getting some special treatment." Youmu indicated Yorihime.

"If Yorihime Watatsuki has fallen, then the moon has. No doubt about it now. To think anything could accomplish what was beyond even lady Yukari... And… oh no…" Ran realized something… and immediately afterwards, its solution, then turned to Keine.

"We need to get in touch with Eirin. She's hidden the earth from the moon before. She'll need to do it again for the next full moon, or the demons will be able to come directly from the moon to Gensokyo."

Panic spread in the room… Keine, and Youmu all wore faces of terror, but Remilia seemed confident enough.

"What? What is it?" While the situation was bad, there was still plenty of time to salvage it... the last full moon had only been about a week ago... Ran couldn't understand the terror… Keine filled her in…

"Eirin's been unresponsive for a few weeks, now. No one's been able to fix her, yet… Udonge's been working on a remedy, but even that's no guarantee."

Ran's calm demeanor threatened to slip… "What happened to her?"

"Udonge says Medicine Melancholy took over Eientei… she's using some sort of horrific poison… Mokou and Satori say it keeps the victim awake and in extreme pain… we're worried Eirin might not even be herself, if she ever wakes up."

The panic spread to Ran for a few seconds as well, until she came up with an idea. "Medicine Melancholy… at Eientei? Very well… I will retrieve her. That should give an edge in the removal of the poison."

"Don't be insane! No one's immune to that poison! She's ruthless!" Keine was clearly worried.

Ran glared at Keine…

"I know what I'm doing. You will have Medicine Melancholy in your grasp within a day." And then Ran was gone, through a gap that closed behind her.

Remilia sighed. "Things just keep getting better, don't they? Oh well, don't worry. I'll protect everyone… I'll make sure everything works out."

"Well, the sentiment is appreciated, but I think I need to go tell Udonge that the situation's just gotten more critical… And that she'll have either another patient or the source of her troubles in a short while." Youmu said, leading Keine out the door.

Remilia resumed waiting for Satori, undisturbed by these new developments. After all, once she had the contract in place, everyone would be safe. As safe as Remilia wanted them to be, anyway.

* * *

_**A few hours later, shortly before dawn.**_

"Do come in, Satori." Remilia replied to the knock on her door. Satori opened the door and entered as bid. Remilia sealed the door behind Satori, but Satori paid it no mind.. _Soon…_

"Alright, Remilia… what's this contract you want me to sign?"

_As if she doesn't know… _Remilia pulled out a contract…

"Just sign here and your vampiric secret will be safe."

Satori read the contract carefully as she spoke. "Oh, by the way, I lost to Cirno in a spellcard duel."

Remilia guffawed. _She's -that- weak? Wow... wait... why would she tell me that...?_

"Because I was contractually obligated to do so." As Satori kept reading, Remilia looked for thread corresponding to the recently enacted duel agreement... _Ah, there it is._ Remilia cut the contract thread, freeing Satori from the compulsion. "I don't know if I could stand that ice fairy becoming more famous than me." _And Satori'll be talking a lot of people soon, I suspect... Dead men may not speak, but I doubt a satori -ever- shuts up. _Satori let the last thought lie ignored as she finished reading.

"The way this is worded, wouldn't I possibly forget that I ever had the knowledge of your control over spellcards?"

"Oh, I suppose it is worded to cause that, isn't it? Well, it shouldn't be a problem. I don't see why you would need to remember it."

"I'm concerned that you might not hold up your end of the bargain. After all, you -can- alter such contracts to an extent. For that matter, mightn't it be necessary for you or I to tell others of it in a dire situation? There should be a clause for that as well... and perhaps we should change the wording on the second part as well, to parallel the first."

"Fine, fine. Here we go…" Remilia changed the offensive wording… She didn't particularly care about the second part, or that she was now likely to be bound by the first part of the contract as well... she could always "fix" it later, once she was done here.

'The capability of Remilia Scarlet to alter the result of spellcard duels shall henceforth be known by none other than Remilia Scarlet and Satori Komeiji, and any they see fit to tell. In exchange, henceforth Satori Komeiji's ability to drain the life of others shall be known only to herself and whosever she chooses to tell.'

Satori nodded, agreeing at this. "This seems fine."

_I just need to make sure she never tells anyone… and I've already ensured that will be the case… there are but a few minutes before dawn, anyway._"Glad to hear it." Remilia signed her name to the contract, not caring that it was far against her favor... again, she'd be able to amend it at her leisure soon enough, and handed it to Satori…

_Yes… do it! _Even the Yama would be under her power. She would never need this spell to call Ran again… she would own everything and everyone! All those threads of fate would be neatly organized… she'd no longer have to worry about loopholes or ambiguities...

Satori picked up a pen, and Remilia's eager thoughts still filled her mind… Once the contract was signed, there was just one more loose end… and Remilia had already tied that knot…

But Satori saw into Remilia's mind and realized something Remilia didn't… Satori had come well prepared, but it seemed she had thankfully just been handed an even better trump card. Remilia didn't know it, but she had just spared herself a lot of pain. Satori was glad the others had learned what had happened to Reimu.

Satori signed the paper, and Remilia snatched it away greedily. "I've -WON-!" Remilia laughed and lunged at Satori instantly, delivering a force that could rock a mountain, and would pulp most people.

Satori merely sat there and withstood the blow. She stood up. Remilia was simply confused.

"You really thought you could betray me? I knew what you were going to try and do. I've signed your contract. And now I'm going to leave… and tell those who need to know." Remilia roared in denial and launched a magical blast this time, it's power enough to flatten a forest…

Satori took a direct hit, and emerged unscathed.

"Like, say… Ran and Yukari. Thanks for letting me know how to call Ran, by the way."

She walked towards the door, away from an enraged Remilia as Remilia launched attack after attack… but nothing worked. _What's wrong? She's fated to die here! I -WILL- Kill her!_

Satori spoke now. "I would suggest you stop that… before you kill Sakuya."

Remilia froze… _What?_

"I'm not surprised you haven't noticed… go ahead and attack me again." Remilia obliged, with an blow that could bring an oni to its knees… Satori gave no indication of being hit… But Remilia heard something… something in the distance crumbling horribly. And she realized what was going on. _She's redirecting the attack to other objects…_

"Yes… though I discovered something else… I can so redirect to people as well." Now Remilia understood Satori's earlier threat. _No... She wouldn't..._

"Now, I think you'll let me go, won't you? After all… How would Sakuya feel, being killed by her own mistress?"

"You disgusting monster!" Remilia lunged at Satori. Satori made no move to dodge, and Remilia's blow landed solidly, as her ears heard something in the distance collapse.

"How many more times will you swing at me before you break something irreplaceable? You're playing a dangerous game, Remilia. Oh, and I hope you weren't too attached to your east wing bedroom."

Remilia let out a howl of rage and started to swing again.

"You're really going to kill her, then?" And Remilia halted mid-strike… She glared at Satori… wearing that horribly smug smile. That satori who thwarted every plan Remilia made… Remilia wanted few things more than to kill Satori right now… smash her into a fine pulp and have her baked into a pie…

But Sakuya was one of those few things.

"Get out!" Remilia shouted as she unsealed the door. "Get out, and if I -ever- see your face again, I just might not care who you put between us." Remilia meant every word she said. She would hunt down Satori later, see her strung up on the mansion gates until even her bones rotted away... Her hatred for the mind reader was nearly extreme as Nue's, now. _How! How could she escape fate! _She had been so -close-...

"You don't get it yet?" Satori explained as she walked out the door. "Your control is limited, so you simply fated someone in this room to travel to the Netherworld tonight… And then you didn't even bother to keep anyone else out of here…" Satori stepped out as Remilia sank to her knees, her useless rage spent, and let loose a wail of despair as the sun cast its first light through the shaded windows. The realization that crushed her spirit, the loophole that had doomed her glorious plan filled her mind.

Youmu… had gone to the Netherworld from this very room on this very night…

* * *

_**Author's Notes**_

_Ah, Remilia. She just keeps digging herself deeper, doesn't she? _

_I'm not sure where to go with the Marisa subplot. I can see it going a lot of ways, and I think they'd all be interesting to write. So in hopes of getting even a bit of direction, I'll go ahead and open a poll about it (the alternative was rolling some dice). Apparently, polls go on my profile page, so go ahead and give me some ideas on Marisa's fate._


	10. Chapter 10

_**Author's Notes  
**_

_These might start coming out a little slower, now. I'm still going to shoot for 1/week, but I may not be able to manage it. I still haven't decided on what to do with Marisa. It seems every time I think about it, I think of another thing to do. _

* * *

_**Within the Scarlet Devil mansion**_

Satori clutched at her rapidly beating heart. She had survived… she had escaped. She hadn't wanted to use Sakuya as a hostage, but there had been little choice… Satori dissolved the bond with her now, though, just in case… It wouldn't do for Sakuya to die because of a freak accident. There was little point in retrieving the dolls... given the strength of the attacks they had suffered, Satori would be surprised if even dust remained of them.

Satori hurried down the corridors… here and there she saw a room collapsed… she was glad she had decided to use parts of the mansion as damage decoys, or Remilia might not have realized what was happening in time… as it was… the next strike -would- have been on Sakuya… Satori wasn't sure if she would have been able to live with herself if it had come down to that, but she was a terrible liar; she had needed to actually put Sakuya in danger to convince Remilia she was. Of course, if Remilia hadn't made that little slip regarding Youmu, her foolish messing with the threads of fate would have killed Sakuya anyway... Satori had folded space so Sakuya was "in" Remilia's study... her life would have been taken, and Satori would have been free from that fate thread. She had released that magic once Remilia had let her know of Youmu's visit to the Netherworld... it was a taxing effect.

As it was, Satori felt bad enough for using a hostage… she once again thanked goodness things hadn't gone that far. As she walked along, she used the spell Remilia had thought she'd never need again and called Ran… it took a few moments, but she showed up, along with her own cat shikigami.

The imposing kitsune towered over Satori, but her heart was hardly even her own. It was bound so tightly to another that Ran herself seemed to do very little her master didn't wish. The nekomata, Chen, was far more unrestrained. A rather cheerful, innocent and happy sort, who desired little out of life other than food and companionship. She saw Ran not as a master, but as a good friend… the feeling, however, was not reciprocated. Ran saw Chen as a tool, and nothing more… just as she saw all shikigami… just as she saw herself. Shikigami were to serve their masters… that was their purpose in Ran's mind… Satori understood why she'd think that, seeing the dedication in the kitsune's mind.

"I'm busy with preparations, Remili-" Ran was clearly expecting someone else, but she stopped when she saw Satori, who addressed her.

"Sorry I've no offering, but you needed to be told as soon as possible. Remilia used a contract to make almost everyone forget that she could alter spellcard duel outcomes. You were one such."

"She did -what-?" Ran exclaimed. She hadn't completely forgotten; the contract was only minutes ago signed, after all, but already the knowledge had been slipping away... now she was enraged at Remilia trying to cut out of her end of the bargain.

"You should tell Yukari, as well. You three apparently had an understanding."

"I will, yes. Now, I need to start dealing with this problem at Eientei." Satori saw Ran's plan… yes.. it seemed it would work…

"I don't envy your Shikigami, but it seems a good plan. I think you're powerful enough to defeat her." Chen looked confused at Satori's statement, failing to understand just what was going on.

"Of course I am." Ran vanished through a gap. Satori saw how the gap was formed, but also saw that doing so required extreme care and precision... Satori would likely need to work for a few days to accomplish what Ran had just done in a mere moment.

Satori had been impressed with Ran's mind. She was coming to be amazed at the many geniuses she had met… Byakuren, Miko, Ran… Possibly even Eirin… Each had a different way of coping with the millennia of experiences they needed to sort through. In Ran's case, she stored circumstances as variables, and just ran them through equations to determine her course of action. Her mind had moved amazingly swiftly, performing calculations at a speed that even Satori had difficulty following without self hypnosis... an interesting storage method, to be certain.

And Ran's mind gave every indication that her master's mind was unfathomable to Ran's own relatively puny intellect. The thought made Satori quiver in anticipation…

* * *

_**Near Youkai Mountain, a few hours later**_

Satori looked at the mountain looming in the distance… The forest of magic sprawled out beneath it… the swamp next to that… the Garden of the Sun, near its base… not visible from this angle, thankfully. She'd been in the mountain's shadow for much of her time on this excursion… but she'd hoped she would be able to avoid going there herself…

Youmu was right, though… even -they- deserved to be warned… She spent the rest of the journey bracing herself.

* * *

_**At the foot of Youkai mountain.**_

Satori sensed a heart waiting passively… A white wolf tengu, it seemed… bored out of his skull, daydreaming about a date later that evening with a fellow white wolf tengu he found very attractive. As she approached further Satori could tell there were several others, all finding various ways to amuse themselves in their heads… counting, playing word games with themselves, and daydreaming. All this changed immediately when the visible tengu's keen eyes saw Satori approaching.

He let out a howl, and immediately Satori sensed about a third of the others fleeing, though they did so silently… this was a well-rehearsed response, and Satori didn't need to read their minds to know what the howl meant.

_Intruder!_

Satori walked openly up to the visible guard, who, upon getting a closer look, let out another howl. Some more hearts fled, intent on delivering a message of vital importance…

_A satori on the mountain!_

Then the tengu turned back to Satori and growled out…

"What do -you- want?"

"I don't want to be here any more than you want me here. But you must be warned; there's a war going on with Makai-"

_Yeah, we know…_It seemed he was recalling a… briefing of some sort, directed by Kanako. It was rather thorough… too thorough, in fact… he had spaced out for much of it. He did remember a few things, though. Demons are bad, the fact that they're a threat is to be kept from outsiders, and any outsiders that knew of it were to be assumed spies from the demons and brought in for questioning.

"Get her!" He called out, and the four remaining tengu guards leapt out.

"Wait, stop! I'm on business from-" Satori spat out as quickly as she could, but though her speech was fast, the tengus' assault was faster. She was cut off by a shield slamming into her face. Satori's frail body had difficulty enough with single opponents… against five, and with no time to prepare herself mentally or physically for the assault, she had no hope… Despite her best efforts and swift mind reading, it was mere seconds before they had her subdued on the ground. Satori was curled into a ball, trying to covering her vitals as they brutally stomped on her with their single-toothed geta.

Satori could tell there was more than mere duty at work here… they had already subdued her… the continued abuse was solely because she was a satori.

_Damn them! Ruined my grandfather's career!_

_Even worse than those crows!_

_It's all their fault…_Satori had known the satori hadn't been liked… but it seemed that in addition to any legitimate complaints, the tengu had been using the exiled satori as scapegoats. As she began coughing up blood, she saw with her third eye that the brutal assault wasn't going to stop anytime soon... though fortunately for her, she soon lost consciousness.

* * *

_**On the Mountainside**_

Satori was dragged unceremoniously up the mountain, bound painfully and trailing blood. Her captors needed her alive; they didn't need her well. Her captors noted that her condition was bad... without a miracle from the shrine maiden, she'd probably be dead within a day. They didn't particularly care of course... they were all prepared to explain just how hard Satori had resisted arrest.

Satori's head throbbed… she was having trouble breathing, and the bindings prevented movement, and she was barely lucid enough to follow the thoughts of those nearby... gathering her own thoughts was proving difficult. Satori knew that her captors were looking forward to running her through once their captain, another white wolf tengu, gave the all clear. One of them noticed her coming around and gave her a good swift kick to the gut, causing her to cough out a worrying amount of blood.

"Hey! Wait until we're cleared, alright? The mountain'll do fine at keeping her down." One of the white wolf tengu noted… and indeed, the rocks, ice, and snow were doing a very good job of keeping Satori too distracted to gather her thoughts well.

She sensed another heart approaching… a generous heart, but one hungry for communication, tired of isolation, but too selfless to think of interacting with others… Whoever she met was greeted with misfortune, despite her best attempts. She seemed to be drawn towards misfortune… it was as though it were some sort of beacon, luring her to it… and when she found it, she would eat it and destroy it.

One of Satori's captors noticed the woman and panicked. _It's Hina! _"It's Curses, Run!" The others knew 'Curses'… and knew not to speak of her, say her name, see her, or be in her path, lest they be cursed… so they ran. Satori's already badly battered body crashed repeatedly against the side of the mountain, but she felt the rope snap, caught on a sharp rock… the tengu who had been carrying it started to glance back, to retrieve the captive… but decided it wasn't worth the risk. They'd just get the captain to pick her up later.

Hina followed calmly, and before long, stood above Satori. Wearing a red dress, and sporting an unusual hairstyle that wrapped her green hair under her chin, Hina looked at Satori eagerly…

Satori could see why though Hina's perception… She could sense misfortune, and Satori was surrounded by a truly frightening amount, unlike any Hina had seen. _How could she have gotten this much misfortune? This level is usually fatal within a day or so. I'd better help her out._

"What are you doing…?" Satori asked as she felt Hina pulling something from her… paranoid, she resisted the pull… she'd been drained once recently, and she didn't care to relive the experience.

"I'm trying to remove your misfortune, but it... seems stuck." _It shouldn't be this hard to pull it out from a source this large…_ Hina thought, frowning as she pulled as hard as she could at the cloud of misfortune.

Satori realized Hina's intention, and carefully relaxed her hold and let Hina drain what she now knew for sure to be misfortune... so that's what it felt like to hold it...

Hina felt the resistance leave suddenly, and within a few more moments, Satori lay, still bound, battered, soaked from the melted snow, and freezing, but no longer surrounded by the horrible cloud. _Was she resisting? How? _Hina was intensely curious…

"I was… I wasn't sure what you were draining… when I felt you taking it… It was eerily familiar."

"But… how? And why?"

"I nearly died... last time someone... took something from me. As for how… well… I saw you grabbing it… so… I just did that, too. It seems like it... could be really useful." Satori managed to speak through her pain.

"Oh, no… you shouldn't mess with misfortune. It's really very dangerous…" _I'm only fine because I live off of it... If she tried collecting it, she'd... well..._ Hina looked at Satori's sorry state again. _End up even worse off._

Satori sensed the tengu squad that had earlier retreated returning, though only out of a sense of duty; their captain now accompanied them.

The captain was a female white wolf tengu who had seen a lot in her past… Satori recognized the heart of a soldier who has seen terrible things… and though her heart carried many scars, it was softer and more compassionate as a result of her ordeals... she seemed sure that her trials and tribulations had made her who she was today; a youkai that commanded well-earned respect from her peers.

"But 'Curses' is still there! She's going to hex us!"

"Good. Maybe then you'll learn to deal with the unexpected and stop running off like a bunch of pups when an enemy comes." The captain's commanding voice lead her into Satori's sight… She had on her back a truly enormous sword… which she apparently intended to wield with one hand, if the shield held on her other arm was any indication. Satori knew the might it must take to wield a blade that large, and knew also that if the captain wanted her dead, she was in no position to argue. Fortunately for Satori, this wasn't the case. Not yet, anyway.

Hina looked up at the squad and waved. "Hello there… I was just helping this poor lady. You should probably stay away."

"It's my duty to see her to the summit. I'll be taking her now, if you've finished with her." _If Hina was drawn this far up the mountain, the satori must have been having a really bad day..._The captain looked at satori and was quite certain this was the case.

"Well, I have, yes, but-" _She seems like the sort who gathers misfortune on her own. I could get so much just by being near her..._

"Good. Take care, Hina. I appreciate your work." The captain said and picked up satori before looking to the other tengu and giving a command.

"Let the others know I'm bringing a satori to the summit via route 7C. And remind those crow tengu that if they're close enough to take a picture, they're close enough to have their secrets stolen by the satori." The lesser tengu all odder and scattered off in separate directions… though satori noticed that more than a little misfortune had stuck to them… quite a bit clung to the captain as well.

"Well… goodbye, then, Momiji." Hina wanted to draw the misfortune from Momiji, the captain, but could sense from Momiji's stance and gaze that Hina should probably just get moving instead. They had had that discussion many times before... Hina quickly left the scene.

* * *

_**Climbing Youkai Mountain**_

"It seems Hina had quite some interest in you. I take it you've been having a rough day?"

Satori weakly nodded. "Not as bad as the previous one, though… or the one before that… or the week before that… Actually, I've just had one bad bit of luck after another." Her words were quiet... she didn't dare force herself to speak any louder... even this was painful enough, and resisting the hunger that now dwelled in the corner of her mind was causing trouble as well.

"You survived." Momiji stated matter-of-factly. ''What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, after all.'' Satori thought on this… it -was- true she had gained a large number of very useful techniques… to say nothing of her newfound insights into the motivations of most of the major names in Gensokyo. It was -also- true that she now had at least two people who would settle for nothing less than her death.

"You have a point, I suppose."

"So what did you do to deserve such, then?" Momiji was clearly of the opinion that one brought misfortune upon themselves.

"Nothing! I just came up here on work for the Yama, and everything's gone wrong!" Satori explained. Momiji wasn't convinced.

_She's a satori. That's probably her problem… Perhaps the whole species is cursed..._

As they ascended, Satori read Momiji's heart… apart from a stray animal here or there demanding food, it was the only one present… Momiji's warning had been effective in keeping away others. This heart was unusual… while she still hated the satori, she also held a healthy -respect- for them, rather than fear.

"I'm Momiji Inubashira, by the way. I know you already know that, but it's still polite to introduce myself, I feel."

"I'm Satori Komeiji." Satori replied, though it seemed Momiji already knew that; Kanako had told her that Satori might come on business for the Yama. "I apologize for my... appearance."

"And I apologize for the rough reception. Everyone's on especially high guard." Momiji's mind showed the state of paranoia and oppression that had crept over the mountain, even more than usual. The invasion of Makai loomed over them, and tensions were running high. The crow tengu were all… well, almost all, playing internal security as always and watching each other and the other tengu to ensure no one was trying to fall in with the demons. The white wolf Tengu were mostly being kept in the dark while they repelled outside threats, while the Hanataka tengu were all carefully running inventories and managing the kappa miners…

The exceptions to those crow tengu… Momiji didn't envy their jobs… And as soon as Satori saw what they were doing, she felt faint.

"They're… spying on the demons…?" Satori was sure Momiji must be ill-informed… no one could be that foolish.

"Some of the ancient crow tengu volunteered for that task, yes… one of their younger members is here to gather their reports… you'll probably meet her… but the communication is only one way." As Momiji explained the situation, Satori felt a strange sympathy with this tengu... able to receive information without being able to reply in turn. Satori could only read hearts, not speak to them, despite her best efforts.

"But… how did they get to the moon…?"

"A powerful ritual was performed, though only high-ranking tengu and the volunteers even knew of it."

"And you're telling me because…? Well, yes, you're right that I'd know anyway. It seems you're rather more familiar with satori than the other tengu are. Odd that you bear so little of a grudge." Satori spoke carefully, focusing her mind on the conversation, trying to shut out the many painful distractions, trying her hardest not to drain Momiji to a withered husk then and there.

"We're better off without that tyrant, anyway." Momiji's memory wasn't long, but she had often thought on the previous Great Tengu, who had been planning a conspiracy to betray surrender tengu rights to the oni. Her plan had been foiled when a satori was finally granted an audience with her for other reasons… it had been the trigger for a long and bloody civil war, it seemed. The war was new information to Satori… though she had lived on the mountain, the exodus of the satori and oni happened almost immediately after the Great Tengu's conspiracy had been unveiled.

Really, that had merely been the last straw. The tengu in general were fond of secrets, and they quickly tired of their inability to hide such from satori. The Komeiji family themselves had caused no small amount of trouble back in the day. Momiji realized that even the hated satori had served a purpose, though… with them gone, paranoia and distrust had turned the tengu spies against one another… no longer were they investigating possible threats from outside the community, but imagined ones from within, a problem that plagued them even in this time of crisis.

Those had been dark years… and while most placed the blame on the satori for instigating the entire incident, Momiji realized that the fault lie with the tengu's own nature… the satori were merely used as absent scapegoats. It took several centuries for the conspiracy hunts to become more passive… the printing press had thankfully changed the primary attack form to slander instead of murder. Even so, until Kanako had arrived, the Tengu had still been more focused on internal affairs, with only a few exceptions. Kanako was now beginning to enlighten them and broaden their horizons… but some were slow to learn…

"I see." Satori understood, now… She had been expecting hate, yes… not to be accused of starting a centuries long civil war.

"If only more did. We're finally beginning to recover… if nothing else, this invasion has us all… well, united, I suppose. Distrust runs as high as always, but at least we have a common enemy." _Perhaps now we can work -together-..._ A dark memory... old, but one Momiji could never forget, surfaced.

"I suppose being manipulated into killing your parents tends to shift your worldview a bit." Satori commented… Momiji's mood grew more sour.

"Yes… yes it does." There it was… the cause of the familiar hate… for all her words, Momiji still hated satori. It had a different cause; her hate was because of their absence… _if they hadn't run away… if they'd made a stand..._ _I'd never have been forced into such a position…_ but hate it was. Momiji realized their role… and believed the satori hadn't. _They fled their responsibilities..._

"Well, you seem to have adjusted well, considering."

"Thanks." Momiji said dryly. _Why won't the satori return? Perhaps then we tengu could trust each other again... I can't believe none of the satori realize how important they were._ Momiji thought bitterly. "Hey, when you go back underground, do you think you could-"

"No." Satori's reply was immediate and decisive... _But why?_

"Because I don't have any means of returning them from the Netherworld." Satori wasn't terribly happy to need to give such an answer herself, and Momiji was even less pleased to hear it... _She must be exaggerating... _"They don't need to all return-"_ just a few to keep the tengu honest..._

"Could we change topics... please?" Satori asked, her voice straining... Momiji looked at Satori and noticed that she was straining to hold something back. _They can't -all- be dead._ Momiji tried convincing herself, holding on to the illusion that the satori might some day return and fix her society.

"-Well I AM!-" Satori shouted, finally losing her composure... she began crying freely, though every sob caused pain to shoot through her body. "So... let's just...drop it..."

Momiji was speechless... _satori... can cry? I... I never even saw them express emotion...  
_

Momiji had been prodding relentlessly at a point that Satori had been trying so hard to forget.

"There... was never... any need." Satori felt that longing for a true connection that she had been trying to repress, but Miko had sparked that desire, and Momiji had fanned its flames. A connection where one didn't need to cry or laugh to give any indication of how they were feeling or what they were thinking, because it was already known. A connection that could no longer truly exist in this world, she was sure.

Momiji's mind was spinning with wild confusion... _They never came back... because they're __dead... they're... all dead?_ Momiji felt her hopes for a unified tengu society crumble... her ideal vanished before her eyes... she held now in her arms the last remnant of the race that might have spared her own... Momiji's veteran heart, which had seen countless battles, began to crack under the strain of this newest trial.

If another satori had looked on the scene now, it would have been able to solve two problems at once. Only emptiness found itself near them, though; the cold, unthinking stone their only companion. Even it seemed to grieve for the loss of the satori, though... for the truth it had once seen, long ago.

* * *

_**The Summit of Youkai Mountain.**_

As they reached the summit, Satori was awestruck. This… was new… Her gaze fell not upon the volcanic caldera she was expecting, but a lake of pure, beautiful water. She had known the shrine would be there, of course, and the hundreds of ghosts surrounded the shrine, but she paid them little mind...… she had gathered as much from the fact that Kanako was living at the summit and their brief discussion earlier. But the lake… it had remained hidden from Momiji's and Kanako's hearts, so beneath their notice after living next to it for so long, but… it inspired Satori.

The new lake showed that as many bad memories she had of this place… as many terrible prejudices were around… things can change. Even the land itself wasn't immune to that… Combined with Momiji's acknowledgment that there may be a place for Satori in the world, it gave Satori hope. It wasn't much of a change… but everything takes time. She thought back to Byakuren's temple, and what the magician had been trying to achieve… trying to coax youkai into abandoning their natures. No, it hadn't worked... yet. But... maybe... just maybe, it was possible.

As remote as the possibility seemed, Satori's hope was renewed. Perhaps one day she would be welcome… and willing… to live with others.

Momiji carried her into the shrine… **She really did come…Why couldn't it have just been a rumor? Nothing to be done about it now but help her along… the sooner she gets off the mountain, the better. **

Satori realized that day wasn't coming any time soon.

* * *

_**The Moriya Shrine**_

"Untie her and leave us, Momiji." The white wolf tengu did as she was asked and, heart still unsteady from the revelations she recently faced, started the long journey back down the mountain. Kanako turned the rope bonds into snakes, which quickly slithered off. Satori used her newfound freedom to channel and cast the healing spell she had learned from Byakuren... the vampiric hunger faded as the pain did, and she felt the nearby ghosts' envy. It seemed these were casualties of the war on the moon.

"I've some new information for you…" Kanako said…. and indeed she did. a great deal, actually. Information on hundreds of types of demons, the current size of the demon army, its rate of growth, even information on factions within the demon army that might be played against each other… everything a general could possibly want to fighting a war…

"This is… quite a lot of information. It seems your spies have been very productive, then." Satori said respectfully… and Kanako's mind darkened a shade or two.

**They -were-, yes… now, though...**

"They've been getting caught… I don't even want to imagine what would happen to a spy caught by demons." Satori said… but she didn't have to imagine anything; Kanako placed some photographs on the table. Satori forced herself to look, knowing from Kanako's mind that they were the last photographs they had of a few of the tengu spies.

They were hardly even recognizable as people, let alone tengu. Faces that had been badly beaten, jaws broken, horrible gashes across their face… Satori could see in the background of the photographs some of the implements of torture that had been used. Of course, the rest of their bodies were in no better condition than their face. Signs of horrific torture and humiliation were present.

"It seems when the spies are caught, these sorts pictures are taken by their captors… presumably some sort of threat or sick thrill… We haven't found any evidence that they realize we can acquire these photographs, so I assume it's the latter." Kanako gestured at the dates on the photographs for one such victim.

The first photograph had them merely bound and gagged. The second, taken later that day, had them deprived of their clothes and beaten badly… the third, two days later, left the tengu barely recognizable. The fourth, taken the next day… showed the tengu in full health once again...

The fifth, taken almost a week later, earlier today… showed the tengu merely sitting, skin torn wide open once again, bound and facing a mirror. The tengu was looking into the mirror, eyes alive but broken.

**We underestimated their healing abilities.**

"You gave them poison pills… but the demons were too good at healing and neutralized them…" Satori's stomach started churning. "So they could… do this…"

Kanako nodded.

"Why would you… show this… to me?" Satori knew the answer, but Kanako needed the reaction, lest she think Satori a heartless monster.

**People need to know what they're up against. You know people well. Would this rouse their fighting spirit or break it?**

Satori looked at the pictures again and gagged… "The latter, obviously."

**I thought so. I'll prevent them from being published, then.**

"You considered showing these to the tengu?"

**And the humans, yes. **It really shouldn't take a mind reader to realize that would have been a terrible idea... but then, Kanako had been quite certain that people would be afraid if they saw these photos. She was simply concerned about how -much- they would be afraid; keeping them afraid was one thing and would ensure obedience... going too far and breaking their spirit would cause far more problems, though.

"I'd like to speak to the young tengu who has been collecting these... I... need to see..." Satori started... She needed to see the youkai who had seen all these horrors... needed to read her heart. Satori needed to be reassured that there was another with the strength of will to resist being broken at such horrors... someone stronger than she had been.

Kanako nodded and gestured. **This way…**She gestured to a door and moved to open it. "We needed a place to keep her safe, so she's living in the shrine right now."

The door swung open, and Satori was confronted by a tortured heart. She had met this girl but once before, and so changed was she in the past few years that her heart was almost unrecognizable. A heart that had, until recently, been joyful and fun-loving was now so jaded it may as well be made of the stone. Horrific thoughts went through her head, images much like the ones in the photographs Satori had just seen… and many far worse. No mere idle imaginings… these were memories of photographs this very girl had taken.

Even now, she was busy, reciting names and the current date in a detached manner. It actually reminded Satori a great deal of when she had been judging souls for the Yama… As the young tengu thought of a name and the date, she held her… camera, though it looked unlike any other Satori had seen, in front of some film. An image came into her mind… she took a photograph, and the image in her mind appeared on the film… in this particular case, it was of a tengu having their wings set aflame.

Satori shuddered and looked with horror around the room. Photographs of tengu in various states of humiliation and torture seemed to be pinned up along the walls, as well as photographs of handwritten documents, photographs of demons… of alien, bizarre architecture… Not a single one seemed to be of a tengu that wasn't suffering some horrible fate…

Satori read from the poor young tengu's mind that the photographs were arranged by name, as she took her most recent photograph and attached it to the bottom of a long board full of photographs, arranged by date. The earliest showed some form of minor demon, along with some of the alien architecture… then mostly photographs of handwritten reports with the occasional photograph of a demon… these were almost always followed by a report… Satori didn't need to read them to realize they were assessments of that demon's capabilities.

Then… there was a tengu, bound and gagged. Then photographs of torture… that seemed to have gone on for over a week…

The young tengu scooted her odd rolling chair back to where she had left her camera, and thought of another name, affixing today's date to it… But no image came up. Relief swept through the young tengu's sad heart, and she took the blank film, marked it with a large "X", and stuck it to the bottom of a chain… someone who seemed to have been captured rather early, by the looks of it.

_Rest in peace… you've earned it. _The young tengu went back to her desk and repeated the photographing process, paying no mind at all to Satori or Kanako or the door opening.

"What…" Satori looked around the room of horrors…

"Hatate, you have a visitor."

The young tengu turned to Kanako, and Satori finally got a good look at her face. Her eyes had withdrawn terribly, and tears, both new and old covered her face, marring what had once been some sort of makeup some weeks ago. Hatate's skin was even more pale than Satori's own, and even without reading her heart, it was obvious that she was looking at a broken girl, neither adult nor child, who had seen things no one should ever have to.

"Oh. It's the satori. Hello." Hatate said in a distant tone of voice… Satori focused on her own Qi… then pulsed it as Meiling had done almost subconsciously at the Scarlet Devil Mansion… and sensed that Hatate's aura hardly even reacted… Satori had little experience with it herself, but she suspected the poor response had something to do with Hatate's state of mind.

"Hello… I'm sorry you have to go through this. All because I couldn't..."

_This is her fault? I wonder how. _Hatate simply stared at Satori, lacking the motivation to even ask the question she was thinking of. Kanako was curious herself… she had been surprised to hear Satori admit it was her fault, and wondered what had caused the change of heart.

"I had to judge the demons and their victims for the Yama for a day. Their victims at the time were different, but the results were much the same…" Satori paused and considered the photographs…

_She judged for the Yama? That would have been an interesting story to write about...  
_

Satori finally pointed at three photographs detailing several forms of torture. "Those are the worst, from the ones I recognize. You see, when I had to judge, I had to live the experiences and ride the feelings of the demons, who were enjoying themselves… though sharing those emotions sickened me… and still does, thankfully." Satori gestured to the picture of a demon scalping a tengu with a happy grin on it's deformed face.

"Even more unfortunately, many of their victims passed through. And let's just say that dying like -that-" Satori gestured at a photograph of a humiliated, crushed, and mangled tengu…

"Leaves a strong impression. It's not an experience I could stand after the first few thousand times. So I'm trying to stop them… so I never need to deal with those experiences again." Satori finished…

**She… She went though… that?** Kanako herself was shaken… **And she's… still sane? There's no way! She... she must be some sort of monster... or... maybe she's lying **Hatate looked numbly at the pictures, but she was far too distant to imagine what it must feel like… she had distanced herself from almost all the tengu she was keeping tabs on… she couldn't afford to empathize with them, or she'd go completely mad. Satori responded to Kanako.

"I've wondered if I'm still sane, but I assure you I speak the truth. All I know right now is that I couldn't bear to suffer another day of it… and now it seems all I've done is pass the duty onto others… sorry." Satori looked at Hatate… _I should get back to work. _The young tengu meekly avoided the gaze and resumed her photography…

Satori looked to Kanako with clear regret in her eyes… Satori picked up a desperate thread of hope from the tengu as she called on the next name.

_Aya Shameimaru… _And Hatate saw, to her extreme relief, a picture of a report… _Stay safe, Aya… I still haven't beaten you… you -have- to come back. _Hatate's prayer carried her one bright ray of hope as she pinned the photograph to the part of the wall dedicated to Aya Shameimaru… nearly twice as wide as the others, the extra space filled with photographs of reports. And as Satori looked around the walls, she noticed that Aya Shameimaru's section was unique in one other way… she was set apart from the dozens of others by one simple fact, as Satori gave one last look over her shoulder...

Aya's was the only section that didn't have any images of a tortured tengu.

* * *

Kanako and Satori quietly returned to the main room, unable to speak… Kanako feeling a profound pity for Satori.** She had to... go -through- that?** The very thought of it was making Kanako nauseous.

"Now you understand why I had to come up here…" Satori started… and Kanako quietly nodded, feeling horrible shame for her hatred of Satori… but the hate still clung to her heart… **And just how did she -think- I would react to mention of a war? I -had- to gather information… She knew this...  
**

"The spies… you never intended them to come back, did you?"

**They were aware the journey would be one way when they volunteered. **"Indeed. I ask that you not tell Hatate… she has it hard enough already."

Satori nodded silently. To think that others had given up their lives because she wasn't able to deal with the stress of judging… that her weakness had condemned so many to a horrible death… the guilt weighed heavily on her.

**She should probably rest.** "As an apology for your treatment, you may rest here for a few days. Please keep to yourself, however. If you'd like, we can arrange for you to journey back to the underground, via the geyser center, as well." -**Please- accept.**

Satori was heavily tempted... but decided to stay here for a while, at least. She felt nervous going home before doing some spiritual cleansing... her vampiric hunger could probably be quelled, and she didn't want to put her pets at risk.

"I'm going to have to impose on your hospitality for a while, I'm afraid. Though thank you for at least taking this threat seriously."

* * *

_**At the Hakurei Shrine**_

Several weeks and she still hadn't returned... perhaps she was dead, then. And the barrier had faded...? What unbelievable luck! It had been years... a decade? More? No matter... now was a great chance to get out and see what had changed. Best take care to avoid the pet... far too dangerous to deal with it in this condition... Time to finally move away from the Hakurei Shrine, and into Gensokyo proper.

* * *

_**In the Scarlet Devil Mansion's Guest Wing**_

Ran stood beside Alice as they gazed into her crystal ball. Alice had given Ran some remote view dolls and offered to assist her… after all, Alice wanted Medicine Melancholy dealt with even more than most… she didn't forget the cold threat she had received…

In the crystal ball, one of Alice's dolls was being used to see, while Chen stood outside the gates nervously.

"Ran? This place is scary… Where did you go?" Chen was lost and confused. Ran knew she was taking a risk here; if Udonge couldn't figure out a cure with Medicine Melancholy, then Ran was about to lose a rather valuable tool.

Chen started to approach the door. "I don't want to go in! Ran! What's happening? I don't want to go in!" Chen pleaded… Ran paid her no mind, but Alice was a little disturbed.

Ran knew that normally, a shikigami remained somewhat independent, with a free will. If Chen didn't want to go in there, then Chen wouldn't go in there.

But Ran wasn't a normal practitioner of Onmyoudo. She followed the Shikigami link along, and grasped Chen's will through it… and drove Chen forward into the poisoned house. By controlling her will, she ensured that Chen followed her orders exactly… which gave Chen power equal to Ran's own. Chen wouldn't like it, but Ran would be unable to think straight if the poison effected her, so she had to defeat Medicine Melancholy remotely. Ran had to block the sense feedback from Chen, or she'd have been incapacitated anyway… which necessitated the puppeteer, who had been willing to act as Ran's eyes.

Chen's body stepped in the door… As much as Ran had done her best to slam shut the sense link, a bit of pain still got through… A minor prick instead of a sensation of being shredded, torn apart…

Alice refrained from commenting on the act. After all, if Chen didn't go through that pain, Alice herself would have to go through worse when Medicine caught her.

* * *

_**At Eientei**_

Chen and the dolls looked around, and started scouting the place. There was an unusual lack of fairies… they were probably incapacitated by the poison…

Before long, of course, Medicine Melancholy found the group…. in the courtyard, as fate would have it.

"Oh ho… it seems someone else is defiling… no… Its you, again, isn't it, miss dollmaker…" Alice was getting nervous… but at least she didn't know exactly who-

"Miss Alice Margatroid." Alice froze in terror. Ran shook her… she wouldn't be able to do anything if she couldn't see for at least a while, and the dolls were just staring at Medicine.

"Good idea of you to move out of your house… but don't think -that- will save you… you see, I've already liberated everyone there…"

As Alice watched, a swarm of dolls flooded the halls and began to attack. Ran moved Chen to be in the frozen field of view, and took direct control of Chen's body, cutting down dolls with magic and Chen's claws as they approached, though they quickly stopped and retreated.

"Why would you enslave your own creations, Alice? See how willing they are to fight and die for their freedom?" Alice saw the dolls she had spent so long working on… but their eyes were as empty as ever.

"I must say… that cat doll is magnificently made. Though I don't think it's going to be as good at combat as some of your other creations…" Medicines words reminded Alice of another doll she had been forced to leave at her house...

"Get inside! Hurry!" Alice shouted at Ran. Too late… the exits were already blocked by the Titania dolls…

And seemingly out of nowhere, the Goliath doll, towering above Eientei, appeared. It held two enormous blades… large enough to be mistaken for trees from the wrong angle, but Alice knew that they held an edge sharper than most normal blades…

The mighty doll lined up its attack and swung.

* * *

_**Elsewhere in the guest wing of the Scarlet Devil Mansion.**_

Udonge, Youmu, and Keine were doing their best to keep Marisa alive, keep Sakuya healing well, and keep Reisen stable. Keine went to make a pass around and check that the others were still stable.

Keine opened the door to Eirin's room first. She got started on her routine assessment quietly.

* * *

_**Eientei's Courtyard.**_

Ran, still controlling Chen's every movement, made Chen dodged the cross slash of the swords, but the doll was already moving for another strike. Chen rushed at one of the Titania dolls, but even with most of Ran's power behind her, they failed to move… they were rooted firmly to the ground… at least it kept them from attacking.

The swords slashed just above Chen's head as she ducked… then rolled forward, trying to get past the colossus to get at Medicine. The giant doll shifted a foot, though, and stopped her… she tried darting around, but nearly ran into one of the enormous blades… she managed to stop in time, merely getting nicked… blood trickled down her face…

"Oh ho? That's no doll, is it? You can control -people- like that, too? Interesting…" Medicine grinned. "Well, thank you for giving me such an idea, whoever is controlling that cat."

* * *

_**Scarlet Devil Mansion Guest Wing**_

"What is she talking about?" Ran asked Alice, but Alice was still almost nonresponsive from fear "Just beat her!"

* * *

_**Keine**_

Keine was just about to leave Eirin's room when she heard a noise behind her. she turned and saw something unexpected. Eirin had risen out of her bed.

"Eirin! You're alright! Oh thank goodness! Look, we need to you-" Keine had been approaching Eirin, but was cut off when Eirin launched a clumsy and powerful kick that launched Keine through the wall into the hall… and through the -opposite- wall into Kaguya's room. Keine coughed, the wind knocked out of her by the blow, several ribs shattered. She barely even noticed when Kaguya's arms closed like a vice around her lower chest. Eirin walked through the holes Keine had made…

Keine tried to slip out of Kaguya's grasp, but it was too tight, and the positioning made it impossible to get Kaguya in reach… all Keine succeeded in doing was wasting valuable energy and time… she was fast running out of both. Eirin had reached her... she wound up for another swing. Kaguya's deceptively strong grasp prevented Keine from dodging out of the way…

* * *

_**Udonge and Youmu**_

Udonge looked up at the door, expecting to see Keine. Instead, what she saw brought tears to her eyes.

"I knew that you'd recover!" Youmu looked at the door to see what had pleased Udonge so, and saw Toyohime standing there…. but Youmu realized something wasn't right… her eyes were still empty, somehow. Udonge had already begun moving towards Toyohime…

"No! Something's wrong!" Youmu shouted, and Udonge looked over her shoulder… Youmu was gone, instead in front of her, parrying Toyohime's clumsy punch with an empty hand. Toyohime grabbed Youmu's arm and flung her back, through the wall above the door into the hallway. Udonge backed away… This wasn't Toyohime…

* * *

_**Ran and Alice**_

Ran wondered at the source of the noises coming from down the hall… but neither she nor Alice had the time to ponder further… the fight with the Goliath doll wasn't going very well… Medicine was skillfully keeping it interposed between herself and Chen, while hovering a ways off the ground.

"It must have some weak points!" Ran shouted.

"I fixed them all! If you can set off the gunpowder inside, that'd do it, but I fixed the overheating problem that caused it to go off last time!"

"You… you filled that -entire thing- with -gunpowder-?"

"It's a force of habit, alright? It makes a nice, reliable stuffing!" Alice was as defensive about her doll hobby as usual... at least it was drawing her out of her blind panic.

"Do you even -realize- the devastation a bomb that big would cause?"

"Well, it's not -supposed- to explode!" Alice explained... Ran let out a sigh and continued.

* * *

_**Keine**_

Keine was taking a severe beating as Eirin, her gaze still distant, repeatedly and coldly slammed her fist into Keine's gut. Keine's blue dress was covered in her own vomit, and her struggles had all but ceased… but Kaguya's arms kept her supported. Keine struggled to remain conscious…

Then she staggered forward… Kaguya's grip had been broken… she felt suddenly warm, and heard a voice behind her.

"Go! Protect the wounded! Someone's trying to control us!" Mokou called out… Kaguya had changed her target to Mokou, though the lacked the usual vigor she used against her rival… she coldly wrapped her hands around Mokou's throat… and they both lit aflame as Eirin approached and started to swing at Mokou…

Keine wasted little time, scrambling out of the room, trying desperately to get her breath back… she staggered as quickly as she could down the hall…

* * *

_**Udonge**_

Udonge backed against the wall… she had no idea how to stop Toyohime… she could tell her hypnotism would be useless… there was precious little of Toyohime left to respond to it… She had consistently beaten Udonge every time they had fought. Even without her mind, Toyohime's body was far beyond what a normal human could perform, and certainly beyond Udonge's capabilities to subdue… but she couldn't leave her patients undefended. Udonge started to ready an attack…

"Udonge, -move-!" She heard, and a lifetime of following directions took over; she dove to the side. Toyohime was mid-step when she was launched forward and through the inner wall into an adjacent room. Youmu stood where Toyohime had.

"We've got to move them away…" Youmu was looking worse for wear after her impromptu exploration into the hallway… winded, but swiftly recovering… she moved towards Reisen, and her spirit half changed its shape slightly and scooped up Sakuya. Udonge nodded and grabbed careful hold of Marisa. Even now, she could see Toyohime returning.

The pair carried their three patients out of the room, hustling as fast as they could.

* * *

_**Ran and Alice**_

Ran's Shikigami was beginning to chip away at the goliath doll, but she saw no way to get past it… it was too big, too fast, and too durable… What's more, she was feeling some resistance on the shikigami link. How? Chen wasn't able to resist her! She had absolute control over her shikigami!

Alice was still nervous, but was now paying careful attention to the viewpoints of the dolls, making sure Ran had a good view of the scene… They didn't even notice Keine enter the room until she wheezed out…

"The poisoned… being controlled…"

Ran's mind worked quickly, putting this new information into the combat formula… It was Medicine… she must be manipulating the poison she had put into the bodies of Eirin and the like to puppet their bodies somehow. So that had been what she meant…

And that's why her bond with Chen was weakening… Medicine was giving counter orders to Chen's body, which was thoroughly filled with the poison… it was also how she was presumably controlling the dolls… she had soaked them in enough poison…

Ran knew time was running out… before long, Chen would be more poison than shikigami, and then Medicine would be the victor.

Keine lay on the ground as Ran thought and Alice focused, too busy to approach her.

Kaguya entered the room… upon stepping on Keine, she looked down, jumped up, and flew down, slamming Keine hard. Keine felt bones break and struggled to crawl away, but Kaguya simply repeated the action mindlessly.

"We've got company, Ran!"

"Busy!" Ran said, still trying to keep her shikigami from being sliced apart... She was sorely tempted to just declare a spellcard duel with Medicine, but knowing Remilia, she'd find some way to unknowingly mess things up, again... no, this defeat would have to be a normal one.

Eirin was about to enter the room behind her, but a red blur slammed into her, tumbling along with her… Kaguya continued slamming into Keine's body, blood now coughing up with every hit, Keine's eyes wide open, but her consciousness long gone.

Then Ran noticed a break in Medicine's concentration… the Goliath doll took a little longer to line up its next attack, making it easier to dodge… She'd noticed such breaks before, but now she noticed something else happen simultaneously...

Kaguya, finally seeming to realize Keine was no longer a threat, approached Ran and Alice. Alice sent some dolls to intercept… the images in the crystal ball now remained static, but Ran had gained a vital clue. Ran and Alice were forced to face a battle on two fronts, and Medicine had a vastly superior force on both fronts…

But Ran was a tactician with a thousand years of experience, several hundred of which were against the genius that was her master. Thousands of plans ran through her mind in a few seconds, as she considered how to use this newfound opening.

* * *

_**Udonge and Youmu**_

Youmu and Udonge had found that, though relatively uncoordinated, Toyohime could still fly… and did so with alarming speed. Youmu and Udonge thought they had lost her, until she burst out of a wall ahead of them… she was newly adorned with a few lampshades and splinters of a desk. Toyohime may have looked ridiculous, but her swift attack at Youmu made it clear that she was taking this fight no less seriously.

Youmu shifted her grip on Reisen while she swiftly drew Hakurouken with her other hand… she needed the speed of the smaller blade to intercept the attack…

"No! please don't!" Udonge begged, but Youmu had already parried the attack with the flat of the sword and deftly turned the blade, slashing. It opened a significant, though far from mortal, wound diagonally across her chest. Youmu sheathed the sword, bloodless from the speed of the strike, in almost the same motion, before her awkward hold on Reisen was lost.

Suddenly Toyohime backed away, her eyes clear now, seeing, though obviously in extreme pain. "Reisen…?" Toyohime uttered at Udonge, but almost immediately lost the sudden clarity and fell to the ground… Youmu and Udonge were both confused, but wasted no time in taking the moment to continue running… they were nearly to the room where Alice and Ran were working… perhaps they'd be able to help.

They saw Kaguya enter the room. Eirin, along with a red blur flew past them, and produced a loud and painful sounding crash from far down the hall.

They hurried in behind Kaguya, who was approaching Ran and Alice… well, trying, anyway. Alice's dolls were doing passably at keeping the princess at bay, but Alice just couldn't get enough power behind them to halt the Princess's single-minded assault. Youmu set Reisen down and launched herself into the room, drawing Hakurouken and slashing, opening a wide cut along Kaguya's side.

Kaguya was suddenly overwhelmed by the dolls, her eyes suddenly clear as well… just a few moments, but long enough…

"Perfect…" They heard Ran mutter…

* * *

_**Ran and Alice**_

Medicine was struggling to control something, and the Goliath dolls' attacks were clearly following a very basic program… it would only last a few seconds, but it was a program Ran had grown rather familiar with over the course of the fight…

The mighty doll slammed a blade into the ground, cutting another part of Eientei open, and Ran moved Chen, temporarily freed from Medicine's counteracting control, up the doll's arm, springing off of it and launching herself at Medicine.

Kaguya had resumed moving, more directly and fiercely this time, and managed to deliver a solid blow to Youmu, a downward strike that buried her in the ground and dislocated one of her shoulders… Then she moved to Alice, now easily pushing through the dolls and slamming the magician through the wall, cutting the crystal ball's contact…

Ran's Shikigami link, though, was still intact…. and she knew where medicine was… She programmed Chen to follow specific commands… visualizing the combat perfectly… she had seen enough to know Medicine would be knocked onto the roof of Eientei, try to get the Goliath doll to slash Chen off of her, so she programmed Chen to wait the appropriate amount of time, then put Medicine in the path of the blade…

Ran knew how the entire encounter would play out from then… Medicine had proven to be far more knowledgeable than expected in some regards, but now that Ran knew exactly what -sort- of amateur she was up against… the last variable had fallen into place, and she ran the equation…

The battle's outcome was already decided.

* * *

_**Eientei's Courtyard**_

Chen ran up the doll's arm and pounced at Medicine Melancholy, who was still busy trying to regain control over Kaguya. The nekomata struck hard, and the pair tumbled onto the roof of Eientei. Medicine, panicking, had the Goliath doll swing one of its blades at the tangled pair, and Chen, with might far beyond what her few hundred years as a youkai should allow her, swiftly moved Medicine in the path of the blade. Medicine ordered the doll to adjust its aim, knowing it wouldn't be able to fully halt the inertia, and the blade cut low, collapsing the roof, and spilling the two back into the courtyard.

Chen looked like she had taken the fall hard, and Medicine ordered the Goliath doll's other sword to swing down on Chen, the first sword still off to the side… But the doll hadn't been properly balanced for such an asymmetric motion, and Medicine quickly realized she needed to manually correct its balance before it fell. She started doing so, but Chen had been feigning her injury, and just as Medicine was busy for a split second with the delicate task, slammed into her.

Medicine tumbled away, slamming painfully into one of the walls of Eientei. She tried staggering to her feet, only to notice the enormous doll, unable to correct its balance on its own, was now about to fall on her. She dived out from under it… mostly.

It landed hard on her hips and legs, crushing them and pinning her thoroughly beneath its enormous bulk… she tried dragging herself out from under it, but saw Chen standing above her…

"This isn't over!" Medicine declared, unaware that no one could hear her. Then Chen delivered a mind shattering kick to Medicine's face while swiftly catching the doll that was for the first time trying to flee from the young girl and holding it in an iron grip.

* * *

_**Meanwhile, Alice, Ran, Udonge, Youmu...**_

Having programmed Chen to win, Ran turned her attention to the moon princess. Actually, two now, as Toyohime appeared in the doorway, pinning Udonge uncomfortably between them.

Ran dropped her arms out of her sleeves, and rushed at Kaguya… who didn't react at all. Toyohime swiftly moved to attack Ran, but received a face full of Kaguya as Udonge ducked under her… Ran waited a beat, then launched a blast of magic at Toyohime with one hand, and launched herself feet first at Kaguya with the other, sending her into the hall. Right around now, Medicine wouldn't be able to change their programming… she was about to be pinned under a two story tall doll… Kaguya had none active.. Toyohime was simply attacking the nearest enemy…

"Youmu, cut her!"

Youmu had unburied herself from the hole, and readied Hakurouken for another strike, through managing to draw it with her good arm required some acrobatics in itself. Ran was grappling Toyohime, and Youmu slashed hard across Toyohime's back, once again causing her to suddenly stop resisting… and cry aloud in pain for a few moments, before curling into a fetal position as Ran released her, and ceasing movement altogether, apart from shallow, pained breaths.

Chen, clutching both an unconscious girl and a small doll, skin blistering badly where she was touching them, appeared through a gap in the ceiling, graciously landing on the ground… mere moments later, Remilia entered the door, carrying one Eirin Yagokoro, newly modified to have zero functioning limbs, dropping her at Udonge's terrified feet to join the heap of Toyohime, Kaguya, Keine… Then Remilia asked a pointed question.

"I -did- say something about not making a mess, did I not?"


	11. Chapter 11

_**Author's notes  
**_

_Sorry this came out later than expected, but I needed to do some planning ahead. I only have the next few chapters loosely planned, so I'm a bit nervous releasing this, as it's the first time I've finished a chapter without the next one partially written. It'll probably take me a while to get into a new rhythm. In the meantime, enjoy, and thanks for reading, as always!_

* * *

_**At the Scarlet Devil Mansion, Remilia's "office"**_

"Well, it seems its time to renegotiate our contract. Fixing all this damage to my home won't be cheap... but I'm willing to overlook it for a small favor." Remilia explained to Udonge.

Ran had long ago left, leaving Chen behind in Udonge's care... yet another poisoned subject to treat. Keine's condition had taken hours of complicated surgery to stabilize. Udonge just wanted to sleep, but so many lives rested on her now. And with Youmu gone to speak with the Prismriver sisters about starting up a communication with the Netherworld, Udonge now had to treat her many patients with only Alice as help. While Alice's many dolls and Alice's own dexterity had proven very helpful with the surgery, Alice herself knew rather little of medicine. They were still both having difficulty keeping the others stable and healing... this meeting was taking precious time... anything could go wrong, and quickly, so Alice was tending the patients while Udonge spoke with Remilia. Alone. Again.

Of course, Medicine Melancholy herself was a problem as well. Udonge wasn't sure what she would be able to do with her... maybe convince her to remove the poison somehow? That seemed terribly unlikely. Udonge simply knew no way to contain Medicine should she wake up, so she was currently keeping the poison youkai unconscious. She made another mental note to ask Remilia if she had any ideas during this meeting.

Udonge really hoped it would go smoother than their last meeting as Remilia continued.

"Now, I don't think I'm asking much in compensation. I simply need you folks to distribute some... advertisements, of a sort." Remilia pulled out a stack of papers... "Patchouli works quite fast when you give her a motivation..." and set the papers on the table with a loud thud.

On each paper in the stack was a clear image of Satori Komeiji, along with her name, a warning that she was able to read minds, a note that she was weak enough to be beaten by even Cirno... and a fifty million yen reward for the delivery of her person to Remilia Scarlet, dead or alive.

Udonge just stared... switching her gaze between a very serious Remilia, and the disinterested looking Satori on the paper in front of her. She finally gathered herself enough to speak. "But... she's done so much to help-"

"No!" Remilia stood on her chair and slammed her hands down on the table, clearly and suddenly angry. "She's put the whole of Gensokyo at risk! I had everything under control, but that blasted satori ruined it! Now these demons are going to invade, and everything will be gone, and it's all her fault! Why can't you -see- that?" Remilia screamed into Udonge's sensitive ears.

"But... but... she's the only one who... who can fix Eirin..." Udonge stuttered out, cowering in her chair.

"What, having the very culprit delivered into your hands didn't help?"

"Of course not! How would it? She's unconscious, and even if that -weren't- the case, I have no -idea- how we could control her. Clearly the wards we had at Eientei weren't enough, and they put anything your little friend could do to shame!" Udonge was looking intently at Remilia, her own voice raising.

Remilia was behind Udonge in a flash, one arm holding her in a crushing grasp, while the other had its claws at her neck as Remilia spoke.

"Do we really need to go through this again, little rabbit?" Remilia squeezed, forcing the air from Udonge's lungs. "Because if we have to, I'm not sure I'll stop where I did last time..." Remilia slightly loosened her grip, letting Udonge gasp for air and speak.

"No... but... We need Satori!" Udonge pleaded, and Remilia squeezed hard once again.

"-You- need Satori. -I- need her taken care of. Now, if you're not willing to help me, I'm having trouble seeing why I should keep you alive, let alone allow you to keep working here. Sakuya seems to be nearly healed, now. I know you can't simply relocate again; Marisa's condition is turning for the worse, and now Keine can't be moved, either... not that you have the people to move them in any case. So tell me one good reason to let you live... and another good one to let you keep working here." Remilia relaxed her grip to allow a response...

Udonge was panicking... she struggled to think of something. Fortunately for her, someone else intervened.

"You may as well let her go. I'll go ahead and distribute those for you." A vague voice spoke. "I can get them where you really want them, where everyone in Gensokyo will see them."

Remilia released Udonge, who quickly went for the door and skittered out. Remilia let her go; It's not as though Udonge could get away if Remilia really wanted to catch her anyway. Besides, it would be handy to have her around later to force into more contracts. Still, unless she dealt with Satori first, she couldn't use her grand plan again... and she'd probably have to deal with Ran and Yukari as well... well, one step at a time. Remilia sighed before asking of the intruder:

"Who are you? How did you get in?"

"Not important. What is, is that you and I have a common enemy. Now, the only issue I have with these posters is that is says you want her alive or dead..."

"Yeah. There are a few questions I wouldn't mind asking her, but I wouldn't mind a corpse so much." Remilia replied, not particularly worried. She was, after all, still a vampire in her own domain.

"Well, then I've no problem. Simply assure me that if she's brought here alive, that you... address that situation."

"Works for me..." Remilia didn't really care who distributed the posters, as long as they were seen... and she could tell her new temporary employee truly wanted Satori dead, at least as much as Remilia herself did...

"Glad to hear it." The visitor picked up the papers and left the room.

* * *

_**Meanwhile, at a Ruined, Western Style Mansion Near the Misty Lake**_

Youmu entered the mansion and looked around, a chill running down her spine. She lamented the fact that she was the only one really familiar with the Prismriver sisters... such familiarity had resulted in her being the one to meet with the poltergeists to have them serve as messengers to the Netherworld. She could hear the sisters practicing as she entered the house... but they were practicing individually. Youmu could hear multiple songs playing simultaneously, and the cacophony made her want to cover her ears, though she knew it would do nothing to stop the soul-touching music. She forced herself onwards, fear rising in her heart. At any moment, one of the Prismrivers could pass through a nearby wall... But she'd be ready!

Lunasa Prismriver, in her customary black outfit, flew out from the nearby wall. Youmu wasn't ready; she fell back and let out a surprised shriek. Lunasa looked curiously at her, and many of the instruments cut out completely.

"Oh, it's the half phantom... does your mistress wish another performance? The blossoms aren't due for another few weeks, I thought." Lunasa asked. Youmu's heart was pounding, first from the fear, and now from the unbalanced music. Merlin's brass, currently playing three different songs at different tempos, was keeping Youmu wound up.

"Yes! I mean no! No! No... we... just want a messenger. Three... three messengers. You three."

"What? Why us?"

"Because! You three can go back and forth! Between the Netherworld! And I'm busy here! O...kay?" Youmu blurted out, unable to fully think of words before shouting them out in a mad rush.

"Well, it seems it'll cut into our practice time..." Lunasa seemed reluctant to even bring the issue to her sisters.

"Gensokyo's in danger! Reimu's there! We need to talk to her! It's really important! Please!" Youmu begged excitedly, swiftly prostrating herself before Lunasa, who rolled her eyes...

"I'll go ask what the others think."

Lunasa resumed her playing, and though the several new impossible to follow songs that were playing managed to restrain Youmu's mood, it did nothing to allay her fears. She knew the Prismrivers weren't -actually- ghosts, but hells, they were close enough. She was easily spooked, and they weren't especially considerate of that fact... though come to think of it, nearly no one was.

Youmu waited anxiously... When the Prismriver sisters actually performed, the tension in the air held everyone in rapture, a single thread pulled so taught that it seemed the world itself could be slashed apart if reality dared intervene in their musical enthrallment. Here, now, with the three Prismrivers practicing countless songs simultaneous, the tension was no less... but instead of being a single unified thread tugging everyone in the same direction, there were dozens of them, pulling Youmu apart. She focused herself as much as she could... tried to hold herself together against the tension in the air that threatened to tear her soul apart...

Youmu laughed in joy as tears of despair leaked from her eyes... She heard Yuyuko laughing with her in a dirge... she heard falling stars play a jaunty tune as they fell to their deaths...

Then the brass song's stopped as Merlin, dressed in her blue and pink, flew up through the ground. She let out a loud, sudden note in Youmu's face and laughed as Youmu was sent sprawling, her face betraying the terror she felt.

"Hey! What's so important you want us to go all the way to the Netherworld for? It's days away from here!" Merlin asked.

"Reimu's dead... Well... she's in the Netherworld... right. Dead." Already Lunasa's unbalanced songs were weighing down Youmu's mind. Why was she even here? With Reimu dead, there was nothing they could do to stop the barrier from collapsing. At that point, the demons may as well take it; Gensokyo would stop existing anyway.

"Oh wow! That -is- serious! But we're busy right now! We've gotta keep sharp or those new upstarts are gonna end up making more noise than us! I mean, we never even thought of impromptu midnight concerts! Argh! We won't lose to them!" Merlin shouted off and flew away. Youmu cried shamelessly. There was no other way to reach the Netherworld... without the Prismrivers, all hope was lost. She tried to conjure enough motivation to stand and leave, but failed, instead collapsing onto her back...

Then Merlin's music resumed, and Youmu felt the pull on her soul. Yes, without the Prismrivers, all hope was lost... but the Prismrivers were here, and if anyone could convince them, she could...

Well, that's what she was thinking for a moment, anyway. Moments later she was confused once again... her soul being pulled from every direction by the unnatural sounds she was hearing. Her tears of joy were swallowed by her sobs of despair... the sound of hail shattering glass mixed with nails on a chalkboard to form an anguished scream that sang the praises of life... Youmu lost track of time, unable to do anything but listen to the cacophony as it engulfed her, lying on her back.

Then she saw Lyrica, the youngest Prismriver in her usual red, poke her head and torso through the ceiling above Youmu. The more bizarre sounds stopped... only traditional instruments remained, though she still felt her soul torn between blissful agony and tortuous joy...

"We'll do it. It's taking me a while to convince them, but I'm making some progress already. We'll go ahead and set ourselves up as messengers. We'll check in at the Devil's mansion and Netherworld. You should be able to use us to get an update every couple days. We probably won't be able to keep it up more than a few months, though. Longer than that and we might end up forgetting what it is we exist for... and we can't have that."

Youmu barely heard any of what Lyrica said... 'We'll do it' just kept going through her head, and she weakly nodded, not even noticing Lyrica's disappearance. She gathered all of her remaining willpower and began the arduous task of crawling out of the mansion.

The sounds threatened to tear her apart as she tried her hardest to focus on the door, just a few feet away... once outside, she knew the poltergeists would be far more distant. Why was outside so far away? She threw one arm forward, grasped the cracked floor, and pulled with as much effort as she could muster. Her soul wanted to flee no more than it wanted to stay here and ride the waves of emotion forever, though... to become lost in the tides of noise and be torn apart. Her pull got her nearly to the door.

Youmu reached out once more, and grasped the frame of the door for dear life. The tension in the mansion was on the very verge of snapping... and if Youmu was caught in that, she knew she wouldn't survive... not as herself, anyway. She pulled on the doorframe, trying to shove with her feet as well, but it was too far. She simply couldn't... move. Her will eroded... her essence began splintering, flayed by the conflicting songs as she lay sobbing on the ground.

Then, she heard Yuyuko's laugh, taking the place of a trumpet in a boisterous tune. Yuyuko... She had to get back to Yuyuko... Youmu gathered her resolve... and she forced herself out of the door, outside of the mansion. The forces that had nearly rent her asunder were now merely playful tugs, but the ordeal had left her drained. Thirst burned in her throat, and hunger wracked her, but she hardly even noticed.

Of course, had she been in her right mind, she might have remembered that as a half-phantom, she could endure thirst and hunger far better than a normal human. If Youmu had been a human, she'd be dead from thirst after so much time in the mansion... if a Youkai, her very essence would have collapsed under the strain of the Prismriver's practice.

Youmu lay face down in the now melting snow, not caring if she got wet, greedily eating the snow in front of her face, desperate for water. Then, she lost consciousness completely... her first sleep since she had entered the ruined mansion, three evenings ago.

* * *

_**Meanwhile, at the Moriya Shrine**_

Satori was eating a light, simple meal of cooked noodles. She had done her best to stay out of Kanako's way, and Kanako was doing her best to give Satori some space. They were pleased with this setup, but of course, it was only a matter of time before something went wrong with it.

Suwako Moriya entered the door... Satori looked at her, and read curiosity rather than fear, panic, or hate. Well, that probably wouldn't last long, but she savored the moment while she could, delving into the goddess' heart, intrigued by what she saw there... and the more she learned, the more she wished to.

Suwako Moriya was dying. Well, fading to nothingness, but close enough. She accepted her fate, and simply wished to ensure that those she left behind would be well cared for. Satori swiftly found the reason for her decaying form... and indeed, learned that she had been slowly dying for a long time, now. She had perhaps a decade left before she was lost completely. She had enjoyed her time in Gensokyo, and was confident that Kanako and her shrine maiden Sanae, who carried Suwako's own divine blood, would get along just fine here.

Satori could hardly ignore the other heart that accompanied her... a series of gods, though they shared but a single heart... many serpentine curse gods wound themselves around Suwako. These beings, known as the Mishaguji, had entered into a sort of contract with Suwako. Though the event had happened eons ago, Satori had no difficulty reading the agreement they had made, so strong was it in Suwako's mind. Suwako had found the wild curse gods splintered and weak; they lacked direction, being almost animal in nature, and Suwako gave them guidance. She commanded them, and when they followed her orders, they were rewarded with faith... This had gone well for a long time, but Suwako realized shortly after being defeated by Kanako that they consumed more faith than she was getting, now that she shared what she got with Kanako. She found herself feeding them, anyway... she knew that to do otherwise would only bring down their wrath upon her and those who relied on her. Kanako had defeated her, it was only right that Suwako be the one to pay the price the Mishaguji demanded.

Now, after eons of this arrangement, Suwako appeared as a mere child... the most powerful and imposing form she could muster. The Mishaguji, meanwhile, were plentiful in number and strength, some of its bodies larger than the Moriya shrine itself. Soon, the rapid, irreversible downward slide would begin. She was already gathering little faith, and the Mishaguji were as hungry as ever... every day, Suwako gave more and more of her divine essence to the serpentine gods.

The Mishaguji seemed confident in Suwako's plan to keep them from fading, so they continued feeding and following instructions. For Suwako's part, she had already accepted her impending end, and was trying to train Sanae to be able to gather faith for herself as well. If Sanae didn't start improving seriously soon, then her life was at risk. Suwako had already promised the Mishaguji that Sanae would continue feeding them once Suwako went. Suwako wasn't sure what would happen if Sanae couldn't keep them fed. Once they ran out of divine essence they may simply wither and die, denying Kanako her prime source of faith and causing her to vanish, leaving Sanae alone, a mere normal human outsider in a world that cared nothing for such people. Of course, they may start running wild, devouring whatever they came across; Sanae may be on top of that list, but Suwako wasn't sure when they would stop. Neither outcome was very good for her distant descendent.

It was a plan centuries in the making, and Suwako had carefully thought it out... now, she was doing the best she could to live her last days as much as she could, while giving Sanae the best chances of survival.

"Hello? I asked you a question." _She must have a name..._ Suwako prompted of the stunned Satori. Satori merely stared... such a complex plan... and is seemed Suwako constantly ruminated on it. She was still unsure if it was the right thing to do, but realizing she had committed herself to this path a long time ago, and she was prepared to see her plan through to its end.

"Huh? Oh... I'm Satori." She stammered out. _So she's the satori Kanako meant._ _I wonder what I'm thinking._

"Well, apart from that thought just now, you seem to be thinking about your relationship with the Mishaguji, mostly."

_Well, that's proof enough, I suppose. I haven't even mentioned it to Sanae or Kanako yet. _ Suwako's thoughts weren't very forceful... even the Mishaguji, with their basic, hunger-driven minds were more assertive.

"You probably should. They may be able to help, and even if not, just dropping a parasitic nest of curse gods on the Sanae's lap is something she'd probably not be happy with as a surprise."

_I'll just tell her later. Once it's a little further along._ Suwako thought to herself, while she began to say "I don't think that's-"

"You would be surprised just how many dead we get at Chireiden who are still thinking that exact thing. 'I'll tell them tomorrow.' Do it now, or you may never get the chance."

Suwako let out a 'Hmph'. _Who does she think she is anyway? I know those two better than anyone._ "Telling them would be a bad idea."

"You may know Sanae better than I do, as I've yet to meet your shrine maiden. But Kanako? I doubt it. Your mental impression of her is quite wrong. And yes, I know you've worked very closely for thousands of years. Rather vain of you to think that you could keep a secret like the Mishaguji pact from her while thinking she would be incapable of hiding anything from you."

Suwako was beginning to grow rather annoyed. "I can't-" _believe this girl!_

"You should probably start. Everything would go so much more smoothly if people would just listen to me." Satori calmly explained, cutting off Suwako's words and responding to her finished thought.

Suwako leveled her eyes at Satori, and was on the verge of ordering her curse gods after Satori.

"I understand you're upset... it seems Kanako assigned me to your room. Rest assured, I am but a temporary guest. I've some cleansing to do before I can return to work, and after that I'll merely need to coordinate with Kanako. Go ahead and give her the scolding you want to. She wants someone to call her out on the things she's been doing; guilt is beginning to drive her mad, and you're one of the few people who could actually give her the guilt she needs."

Suwako had already marched back to the door, but turned around at Satori's suggestion. _If that's what she wants me to do, maybe I should just let Kanako be..._ Suwako was torn... unsure if her decision was truly her own now, or if Satori had manipulated her into it.

"It was yours, fear not. One last thing before you go. You never told Sanae of the Mishaguji... fine. But did you ever consider she might wish to find another calling in life, rather than being forced into the life of a Shrine Maiden forever?"

Suwako had considered this very thing... and had tried so hard to shove it out of her mind, to convince herself that _Of course it's what Sanae wants!_ And she had succeeded... until Satori had asked the question once again. Suwako left the room and slammed the door shut, a combination of anger and guilt left behind in her wake.

Satori shrugged as Suwako left. "As long as she's sure."

Satori returned to her interrupted meal. Of course, the noodles were all soggy now, and the meal had lost its warmth... Well, nothing to be done about it. Satori shrugged and resumed her now far less appetizing meal.

* * *

_**Several Days Later, at the Moriya Shrine**_

Satori sensed another approaching shortly before she burst in the door. Given her outfit, it must be the shrine maiden that lived and worked here. Her heart was eager and excitable, and also currently rather fixated on a man she had just got back from meeting with. Her heart was pounding, and upon seeing Kanako in the room, one thought kept running through her mind. _Please don't notice... please don't notice..._Sanae was sure that if Kanako noticed that her sarashi was missing, she would catch on...

"What took you so long, Sanae? We're trying to deal with a crisis here. You were supposed to return early this morning, and its nearly noon, now. How are-" **we supposed to convince the tengu of our intention if-**

Satori answered her questions from Sanae's mind, as Sanae was still trying to think of a good excuse for her tardiness.

"The villagers don't believe there's a threat any greater than normal, and are adopting a 'wait and see' approach. And no, she wasn't able to recruit any volunteers to train a youkai in the ways of youkai exterminating. As for her tardiness…"

Sanae's mind panicked, realizing that Satori was dangerously well informed. _Don't say it!_"Please don't-"

"She'd rather I didn't tell you." Satori replied. Sanae was hardly comforted, but was anxious to get to the privacy of her room, and had little way to stop Satori anyway. Kanako quirked an eyebrow... **Just what is she hiding...?**

"Right… ummm… what she said, basically. Can I... uh... go?" Sanae's heart was pumping frantically, anxiety nearly overwhelming her.

"Very well. You did seem to do your job. Go ahead and rest." Kanako acquiesced to Sanae's request, and Sanae, relieved, rushed off to an adjacent room and closed the thin sliding door. Unfortunately for Satori, extreme pain was but one of several feelings strong enough to be felts through such a barrier. While the pulses emanating from Sanae's room were not unpleasant, exactly, Satori really didn't appreciate the distraction... why were humans always so loud with their emotions, anyway?

Kanako whispered… "So why was she late, anyway? Doubtless you know, if you knew the rest…" Satori replied quietly, her own heart rate rising in response to Sanae's.

"She had a rendezvous with a man she's taken a fancy to. It seems things got pretty far, but she hasn't quite gone all the way."

"-WHAT-?" Kanako shouted. Satori sensed Sanae's attention break for a bit and grow worried… but then she carried on, sure she was free of blame.

"Hush. I don't know what his intentions are, but I'm sure she's at a stage where she doesn't care. Keep an eye on her." Satori explained, though her breathing was becoming irregular, and her face flushed.

"I'll do that, thanks." **I hardly needed -another- thing to keep an eye on, but I can't let Sanae get herself into even more trouble...**

"And… do you… mind if we go outside? She's really rather… distracting, right now." Satori glanced at Sanae's room, taking deep breaths to try and keep herself under control.

"Sure, but what do you mean?" **Come to think of it, Satori's acting a bit odd, herself.**

"Can I simply say she'd like some time to herself to focus on the subject of her infatuation?" Satori stood and wasted no time moving towards the exit. Kanako thought a bit, then chuckled lightly… Satori could see she understood.

"Yes… perhaps we'd best go outside." Kanako stood and actually walked, rather than flew. Her footsteps sounded loudly, making her exit clear to Sanae, who appreciated the extra bit of privacy.

Satori was already out the door by the time Kanako neared it. Such thoughts weren't uncommon in Chireiden; the cats and crows and other animals all certainly experienced lust as well, but Satori had always tried to give them plenty of room whenever they got down to business; strong feelings of any sort tended to overwhelm her, and wild lust was no exception. One awkward moment had been enough to teach -that- lesson. Thankfully, her pets had been understanding, and now gave Satori plenty of space when she needed it.

Pushing that uncomfortable memory back out of her mind, she closed the door to the shrine as she and Kanako walked towards the lake. The overwhelming pulse had dimmed to a comfortable sort of background noise as they walked further away... Satori relaxed a bit and let out a sigh of relief.

**I can't even imagine how distracting it must be with all those pets she keeps around.** Kanako thought as the pair walked silently.

"Put simply, humans have particularly strong emotions. A bit of space and a closed door is enough to block the emotions of the beasts and youkai that live at home, but even at this distance, with all those walls, Sanae is... loud."

**What about the other satori?** Satori's good mood sank a bit, though only for a while... Sanae's emotions were swiftly displacing Satori's own, positive or negative. After a brief pause, she answered Kanako's thought.

"Physical... intimacy... between us wasn't nearly as fulfilling as reaching a profound understanding. A heartfelt wordless discussion to connect us..." Satori explained, clearly longing for such a connection herself. Sanae had it easy; she didn't even need a partner, it seemed...

**Was? I wonder what changed... ** Satori sighed and her gaze grew distant as she replied. "Momiji can tell you that."

Kanako noted the wistful look in her companion's eyes, and walked off a ways quietly wondering. **I'll ask her later, then. When is she leaving, anyway...? It's been quite some time...** leaving Satori in the thrall of her memories and Sanae's mental glow. After a while longer, the glow faded as Sanae finished, and Satori couldn't help but smile as she let out a content sigh. A poor substitute for a profound understanding, perhaps, but hardly an unpleasant sensation.

Satori would have to be careful in the future... she had seen other satori become addicted to such powerful sensations in the distant past, and it had never ended well. Yes, it would be best for her to leave the shrine soon, but for now she sat and looked at the shore of the lake, her mood vastly improved. She was almost ready to resume her work.

* * *

_**Later that Evening at the Moriya Shrine**_

Satori was sitting at the lake, looking over it, when she felt Sanae approaching. The shrine maiden was eager to do something, and her excitement was quickly infecting Satori.

"Oh, it's you again!" Sanae said as she noticed Satori. _I really hope she kept quiet._

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I don't think what you're going to do is going to be anywhere -near- as exciting as you wish..." Satori said... Sanae was anticipating lobbing chunks of metal into the lake, where they would explode violently. Sanae herself seemed very confident it would work, though she had no prior experience.

"Oh? Who's miss know-it-all now? Watch this!" Sanae cut a small chunk of the metal she carried away with a knife... Satori was rather confused... she was aware there were different sorts of metals of course, but the way the knife cut easily through the chunk of dull metal to reveal a shiny interior was unusual. Sanae quickly "skinned" as much of the smaller chunk as she could in about twenty seconds, then tossed it as far as she could into to the lake. For a moment, nothing happened as the chunk landed in the water, but Sanae watched eagerly. Satori merely raised an eyebrow... a faint hissing noise was coming from it, and it floated around for a few seconds... odd, but far from the sort of reaction Sanae had been hoping for.

"I told-" Satori started, before being cut off by a tremendous explosion as a gout of flame and burst of sparks leapt out of the lake with the sound of a sudden crash. Satori was not an easy one to surprise, but she sat where she had landed upon throwing herself back and stared at the water. Sanae herself didn't remember the exact mechanism described in her textbooks... only that sodium and water was good fun.

Sanae turned towards Satori and stuck out her tongue. "I told -you- so." She was smug in the extreme as she carved off another chunk. Satori backed away from the shrine maiden and lake...

"What... what... Where did you get that?" Satori finally managed to stammer out as another chunk landed in the lake... Sanae's eager gaze followed it, but Satori covered her ears and looked away from it. _Finally got a chance to do this... I've been wanting to ever since Reimu summoned __up that metal god for me._ "Reimu got it for me about a month ago." Another bang erupted from the lake... Sanae found it quite amusing. _I really need to learn how to do that._

"Reimu can... summon gods?"

_What kind of shrine maiden would she be, otherwise?_ "Of course."

"Well, yes, she is a shrine maiden... so she says, anyway." Satori conceded. Sanae got a good chuckle out of that.

_She's a -bad- one, though. I -still- haven't seen whatever god is supposed to live at her shrine. I kinda thought she wouldn't be able to summon the god when I asked her to back then... it was supposed to make her look even more useless. Oh well, at least I got this out of it._ Sanae carved another chunk off.

Satori pondered this bit of information. Reimu could summon gods... "Wait, but then why don't you? You seem to serve your gods more faithfully..." Sanae didn't seem to notice that she hadn't spoken the words she'd been thinking. All in All, Satori was getting an impression that a lot of things went over the young shrine maiden's head.

"Oh, I can summon a few..." Sanae started as she lobbed the sodium chunk into the lake. _Mostly just Kanako and Suwako, though... It takes training to summon a god... Really strong gods are tough to summon..._ "Someone like Amaterasu would be way past me though. I doubt even Reimu could summon her." Sanae continued as the metal hissed on the surface.

Satori felt the beginnings of an idea. "And when you summon the god... you can-" -BANG!-... Satori winced as she continued "just... make them do whatever you want?"

"Sure, if you do it right." _'course, without knowing the god's full identity... all their titles, names, abilities, profile..._ "Easy to mess up though... some gods get real upset when you summon them... gotta bind them properly or they do whatever -they- want instead. Really, they usually just leave... some might do what you wanted anyway." _Really glad I don't have to do anything like that, though. Sometimes I get the feeling that Lady Kanako and Suwako are keeping secrets from me... _

Satori frowned... well, it had been worth asking. Sanae was already in the process of carving off another chunk of the bizarre metal, and Satori had had enough excitement for today. Sanae's hadn't faded at all, though, and Satori needed to get away from her unrestrained emotions to be able to think clearly for a while.

* * *

_**Moriya Shrine, The next morning.**_

Satori sat at the table with her three hosts. She a lot of her own to consider and discuss, but of course she couldn't help but overhear the others' thoughts.

They were sharing a simple meal of rice. Kanako was mentally looking over the budget the shrine had to work with. It seemed the tengu were finally beginning to pay tribute; this war was looking to be good for profit, but it might take a while before the tengu were willing to donate under more normal circumstances. **The extra income is nice, but I'd rather not be poised on the brink of destruction.**

Sanae was wondering what other old textbooks might lead to fun "experiments" like the sodium one she did earlier. She was eager to meet with her boyfriend as well... but she knew she'd have to wait for Kanako to let down her guard to sneak out.

Suwako was considering the next steps of Sanae's training... perhaps she, too, could gather faith from youkai... if so, youkai extermination might be a reasonable way to do it. Sanae seemed to have taken a liking to the activity, herself. After all, fear got them their faith already, expanding that fear would be the obvious course of action. She'd have a duel with Sanae later... _Gotta keep the girl fit and all. Hmm... gathering faith through fear of frightening youkai... it has a touch of poetry to it._

Satori started the conversation as the meal wound down. "Thanks for letting me eat with you. I need to update you three on the Makai war situation, and I'd rather not have to repeat myself again." Kanako had already heard much of this, but the other two were paying rapt attention, so Satori continued.

"The demons have fully conquered the moon, as you're aware. Ran is sure that by the time of the next full moon, they'll have managed to discover the way to Gensokyo, open only during the full moon. It is likely they will appear and overwhelm us, unless we can stop them from coming at all." Sanae was shocked, but also excited at the prospect of hundreds of demons to fight... She was eager to get into battle. Suwako was more experienced in the ways of war, and far less eager as a result.

"No, Sanae, it isn't a good thing. Remember when you were trapped by Byakuren?" Satori stared into Sanae's eyes and guided her memories with a minor hypnotic spell. _Yeah..._ Sanae recalled her first match against Byakuren... she had managed to beat Marisa and Reimu to the magician (Indeed, didn't even know they had stowed away on the Palanquin themselves)... and had lost outright. Byakuren had introduced the shrine maiden to the ancient magician's friends.

Sanae had been chilled to the bone. Byakuren had left her alone with them, presumably in some sort of hope that she would see the errors of her youkai-hunting ways. The way they had looked at her... hungry stares in their eyes, made her feel like she was in a horror movie. She had feared death, but murder was only one of their myriad of motives, and far from the least pleasant... Sanae was once again shuddering in blind fear and vulnerability... Hokkai had been a truly frightening place. She had tried her best to forget the details, but with Satori's help now, they were all flowing back.

Sanae was becoming far too agitated, so Satori released the hypnosis. "That is what you face. All of those beings freed, and more. This is not a minor threat." Sanae clearly understood the point now, and nodded meekly, allowing Satori to continue.

"Currently, Eirin Yagokoro is being healed... A task I must attend to once I hear word from Udonge... in fact, I should really contact her... she's been awfully quiet." The three were familiar with the name, but not the entirety of its significance. Satori shrugged and explained.

"She's able to use a spell to hide the Earth from the moon. She used it during... ah, but you weren't here for the endless night incident, were you? Nevermind, then. The point is that she can protect us... but it's going to take Udonge and myself quite a lot of time to heal her. We -should- have enough time, but I'm not terribly familiar with what Eirin's undamaged mind is like. It may take longer than expected if she's particularly old." Satori continued, answering questions before they were even spoken. _What's it matter to us, then? Doesn't really change what we're doing here..._ Suwako's thoughts were simply confused.

"Well, as I said... it may take longer than expected. If that ends up happening, we need a backup plan... you three have sent someone to the moon, so you may be able to block that path or hinder the demons enough to stop them from mounting the full fledged invasion they need to have a chance. If nothing else, you have tremendous information gathering potential, and if the demons open a gate, you also have the strongest force easily mustered to quickly secure and close it."

_So we're your backup plan... hey, wait! If we block off the moon, then the tengu I-_ Sanae's thoughts worried her.

"Yes, the tengu you sent up there will be trapped. It's a moot point, really. Many are dead, and most of them captured; they aren't coming back anyway... they were never going to." Satori coldly explained. **What? Did she just say what I think she said?** Kanako was jolted back to attention... and looked at Sanae's face, her thoughts almost as obvious on her face as they were in her mind. _But... I sent them there. They were supposed to come back! I'm supposed to rescue them!_ Sanae was about to speak.

"See, this is why, you shouldn't keep secrets, Kanako." Satori chided the ancient goddess. **She did. Did I not specifically ask that she -not- say that?** "You asked me to keep it from Hatate. Sanae really should know, though." Sanae slammed her hands on the table and shouted at Kanako.

"YOU -KNEW-? How -could- you?" _How could you... ask me to send them to their deaths..._ Sanae felt betrayed... Kanako wasn't particularly pleased herself... she looked at Satori... **This is why I asked you keep it secret.** Suwako was unsurprised, though rather disappointed that the tengu they had sent had lasted such a short time.

"I needed you ready to send the next set up..."

"You want to send -more- of them to their deaths? You want me to kill -even more- people?"

"Think of it as youkai extermination if it helps." **This could take a while.**

"No, it doesn't!" _That's completely different! That's just a game!_ "I'm bringing the survivors home, and that's that." Sanae crossed her arms under her chest in a huff.

"Sanae, calm down. You barely even knew them, and they were willing. It's not like we sent your boyfriend up or anything." Kanako tried calming her.

_Huh... how does she know about Hiroyuki...?_ The man's face flashed in her face._ Oh no._

"Hiroyuki? So that's his name... ah, but it seems he usually goes by Hiro?" Satori casually read aloud. Sanae turned to Satori, while Suwako turned to Sanae and they both yelled the same thing...

"How could you?" Suwako was suddenly distraught and worried. This was the first time Sanae had ever tried to keep a secret from her goddesses... and it strayed dangerously far from Suwako's plan to have Sanae adopt the Mishaguji. Meanwhile, Sanae was upset at Satori... _I asked her not to tell them! Wait... what's Suwako mad about? I... didn't think she'd be that upset._

"I needed to let Kanako know why I had to leave the room... your lust was overwhelming me." Sanae's face turned red in embarrassment and anger. _She peeped? _

"It's not my fault your emotions are so loud. And Suwako's just worried about your life... the inheritance of the Mishaguji that are feeding off of her will have them feeding off of you, next... and she thinks that your having a life beyond that of a shrine maiden is definitely a step on the way to failure." **What? She planned to do -WHAT- To Sanae?** Kanako was horrified... not just that her partner and primary source of faith was being killed, but that she had planned to sacrifice their priestess in a similar manner. _This isn't helping the situation!_ Suwako thought as she glared now at Satori, who shrugged helplessly. It wasn't -her- fault the secret was there...

"Just what is she talking about, Suwako?" Kanako asked through gritted teeth with a calm that would chill the hearts of most mortals... but merely further infuriated the two other gods at the table.

"Yeah, mind explaining yourself?" Sanae was more obviously livid.

"Look, it wouldn't be a problem if you just stay a shrine maiden forever! You can handle them!" Suwako screamed back.

"Did you ever think maybe I'd want to move -on- after while? Maybe even have a life beyond you two? Did it never cross your mind?" Sanae was on the verge of tears... she had been betrayed by her two goddesses.

"And you didn't think that -maybe- you should discuss the fact that you were -dying- with me? I keep you around for more than moral support, you know!" Kanako fumed at Suwako.

"I'm telling you, it would have been fine! It's your fault for not training her to be a proper shrine maiden!" Suwako snapped at Kanako before shouting at Sanae. "And how could you keep a secret like that from us?"

"Says the one that planned on having me devoured by her snakes?" Sanae screamed back, her mind picturing her being -literally- devoured by the Mishaguji. Suwako hurried to explain herself...

"No, they'd just feed of your divine energy-" _and you've got plenty of that._

"And once that was gone?" _I rather like being a goddess, you know!_

"They'd eat you next, maybe, but-" _It would never come to that!_

"So what, I stay a shrine maiden or you kill me?" _Great, ending up in a snake's gullet. Great to know I've got my goddesses looking out for my well being!_ Sanae's thoughts and words showed her exasperation.

"No! You just need to have enough faith to keep them fed!" _You'll have enough! We've got time!_

"If you couldn't get that much, what makes you think -she- could?" Kanako joined the shouting match. "She's been losing faith... haven't you noticed? Soon she won't be a goddess at all!" **She's been improving a little lately, but she could still become a normal human easily... then what?**

"What?" _I've been losing that much...?_

"That's why I've been training her, idiot! She's gotten better!" _ I just -know- she'll be ready when the time comes!_

"But she still pulls in far less than you do! Your damned servants can eat themselves before I'll let them take Sanae!" **I don't know how we'll manage without them, but we'll have to, won't we?**

"But I already swore-" _That I'd provide them with a new host!_

"You didn't... Tell me you didn't!" **She didn't bind herself to that... why would she?**

"Of course I did! They wouldn't settle for anything less!" _Nothing less than a binding oath would calm them, and they don't work when agitated!_

"You... you..." Kanako was at a loss for words and swung at Suwako. She felt no less betrayed than Sanae herself... and still felt betrayed from Sanae's affair as well, just as Suwako did. Meanwhile, Suwako was just about to call Kanako out on her 'discretion' regarding the tengu suicide mission, even while grappling the larger goddess...

Satori, meanwhile, sat forgotten and fumed herself as she watched the trio attack each other verbally, and now physically. She had important information to tell them, and they were getting distracted by their petty problems. They all knew the dire situation! Why couldn't they focus on the world ending threat? Their priorities were a set of secrets that shouldn't have even been such in the first place. Satori left, her life of intense mental focus the only thing keeping her from angrily slamming the door behind her.

* * *

_**Outside the Moriya Shrine, hours later**_

Satori could -still- feel the surging emotions dominating the 'conversation' within the shrine as she looked over the lake. Three shouting voices could be heard, each trying to defend their actions to the others. A diversion finally appeared... Momiji was ascending the mountain with a troubling message to deliver. She was out of breath... she had hurried to be the first to get here... she couldn't let the others beat her...

"Satori... You've... got to..." _Run!_ Momiji tried to say. Satori read the message in Momiji's heart and instantly agreed. Fifty million? The thought made Satori's head spin. Hells... she didn't have much time...

"You... aren't turning me in?"

_And ruin the only chance for my people's redemption? No amount of money could buy the peace we've thrown away. _ Momiji shook her head as she was still catching her breath, but her heart had decided... she would do what she could to help Satori. Satori was touched... Momiji wasn't one who gave loyalty easily. Satori felt bad having to test it so soon, but...

"You... intended to keep this from Kanako?" Satori asked... _Yeah... Everyone's going to know soon enough; these posters are everywhere... but at least this way I can buy you a few minutes to escape._

"I appreciate it. But what you need to do right now... is your duty. Go in there and inform them of the bounty."

"But... you'll..."

"Be hunted, yes. They would soon pin their problems on me, anyway... it may as well be at your suggestion. No reason for you to suffer with me. I do have one favor to ask though..."

"Whatever-" y_ou desire._

"Help Hatate. Her heart is almost completely closed. She has a family... friends. But if she's forced to keep doing what she's doing, she'll soon close her heart entirely... Don't take no for an answer: Stand up to Kanako if you need to. Get the news out on what she's been going through, and she'll have the support she needs. If the other tengu are like you... it may even give your people the unity you desire. I... I think I may have underestimated your kind earlier." Satori admitted.

Momiji was... curious about the request... _Just... what -have- they been making Hatate do? I thought she was just collecting photos from the spies on the moon..._ The request had only strengthened her faith in Satori, though. Momiji was now more convinced than ever that Satori was some sort of messiah that would save her people. Satori didn't share that confidence, having just seen the strife a brief conversation with her could cause, but she was thankful for the encouragement, hopelessly optimistic though it may be.

"I... will then..." _Don't you die, though... We still need you._

"I'll do my best. Thank you, Momiji, and goodbye." Satori had rested, recovered, and now had some more ideas... her time here was finished anyway; Sanae's unrestrained emotions would have driven Satori mad soon enough, so now was as good a time as ever to call on help from another. Momiji quickly ran inside the shrine.

Satori quickly sent a message to Udonge using one of Seiga's spells... telling Udonge how to find Satori when the remedy was ready. Knowing she had no time to see if the message had been received, she worked quickly. Satori carefully entered the right mindset, lined up her magical powers... and hopped off of Youkai mountain to the home of one of her few allies, who immediately offered a cup of tea.

"I was wondering when you'd accept my invitation."

* * *

_**In the Moriya Shrine**_

Momiji threw open the door, and faced three enraged faces tangled in a mess of limbs and clothes, all suddenly turned to whatever creature might be foolish enough to disturb their 'discussion'. Momiji felt herself shrink a bit under the three glares, but she had a job to do, and she was going to do it.

"My goddesses: I... come bearing news." Momiji placed the poster on the table in front of the trio, who glanced at the face on the poster. Her right eye closed as usual... but her other two were wide open. A fifty million yen reward. Suwako and Sanae stopped bickering almost immediately... Momiji was dying to know what was going through their minds.

Momiji didn't need to be a satori to tell the conflict that Kanako was facing, though. The expression of a mercenary who had just been offered money desperately needed, at the mere cost of betraying a partner. Momiji had caught her breath, and spoke up.

"These posters are all over the mountain. We're still trying to find the intruder who-"

"If they managed to evade notice while posting these all over the mountain, you won't be able to find them now. Wouldn't mind if whoever it was worked for me, though... not many can get up here undetected." Kanako explained.

"Dead or alive? That makes it easier. Just some routine Youkai extermination." Sanae growled... her obvious hatred for the mind reader shared by Suwako... and even Kanako. The youkai that had splintered a close-knit family... Yes, they could put aside their petty differences... they just needed a motivation.

Kanako sighed, disappointed. Yes, they needed, the money, and yes, Satori had caused a rift between them... but she had done so accidentally, while trying to unite them against an actual and immediate threat... seeing her shrine maiden and partner god putting aside their differences for greed and revenge wasn't very inspiring. She would take what she could get, though.

"Yes... let's... all go." Kanako said. They really did need the money, and if she was with them, perhaps she could at least convince them... and Remilia... to spare the youkai that was trying to save all of them.

"Lady Kanako!" Momiji shouted as the goddess was about to leave. "I have a question for you... it may take a moment..."

Kanako sighed and shouted outside after Sanae and Suwako, who were keeping a distrustful gaze on each other. "Wait up for me... I'll just be a few minutes." She turned back to Momiji... "What is it?"

"I just... What has Hatate been doing? No one's seen her in weeks... You said she's gathering information...?"

"And I meant it. She's doing her job, and doing it well, that's all you need to know."

"May I speak with her, then?"

"Absolutely not. I don't think she should meet any other tengu for a while."

"I need to meet with her. I've been... entrusted... with a message... from... her... family." Momiji lied, though she had little experience in the field."

"Her family knows... Satori put you up to this, didn't she?" Kanako asked, though the answer was obvious.

"Yes... but she's right! Hatate's friends and family deserve to know what she's doing!"

"Fine. I'll show you. Satori may have changed her mind, but I think her initial decision to keep it secret was likely the better one. We'll see who you think is right." Kanako led Momiji to a door and opened it.

Momiji looked around the dark room... she saw the scenes of torture, read the names. She saw Hatate, not even noticing the door opening now, using her spirit photography to photograph the gruesome images and add them to the wall... Her reaction was the same wherever she put the photograph, it seemed... even when she added to a board the image of a tortured tengu that shared her name...

"Her family knows what she's doing..." Kanako reiterated.

Momiji walked into the room... she approached Hatate. "Hatate?" The young crow tengu turned, and the light from the door illuminated her face. Hatate's face nearly appeared dead, her once carefully maintained appearance now marred by tear-streaked makeup... Momiji recoiled in shock. Hatate didn't seem to care about the reaction... she sat, still waiting for the reason she had been named.

Momiji's respect for Hatate grew tremendously. To continue doing such a painful job without complaint...

"Why are you sequestered here?" Hatate didn't answer though... hardly gave any indication she had even heard the question. Kanako answered in her place.

"I put her here to prevent everyone from needing to see what she did. I wasn't sure what she'd find out, after all, and it seems like a good thing that I did... Imagine the panic that these pictures would spread." Hatate slowly, almost imperceptibly, nodded in agreement, though it wasn't clear what she was agreeing with.

Momiji saw it a different way. "Panic? No... don't you see? These are what we finally need to unite us." The ancient tengu's eyes burned with conviction. "Those demons will pay for what they've done... this burden is not for a single tengu to bear." Momiji indicated Hatate as she continued.

"You want me to release all this information, then?" Kanako asked.

"We need an enemy that's more than just a rumor. And here they've gone and shown their true selves... they're giving us something to fight against... something we've not had for a long time."

Kanako couldn't help but smile a bit, witnessing the tengu's pride. Perhaps Momiji was right... and if she was wrong, Kanako could simply use Momiji as a scapegoat, claiming she's just scaremongering, and mostly undo any problems that arose.

"I'll release this information as well, then... but you'll need to protect Hatate... some tengu or kappa may be frightened instead and try to kill her." Momiji agreed and addressed her new charge, who had since returned to her work.

"Your courage and dedication may have just saved our entire race..."

Hatate gave no indication she had heard.

* * *

_**Meanwhile, at the Scarlet Devil Mansion**_

Udonge looked at the pills. They had taken so long to make, and she wasn't even sure she'd done it right. She was... mostly sure she had followed the directions Eirin had given correctly... and she had successfully made plenty of the things. Now all that remained was getting a hold of Satori and using the blasted stuff... that should cure the poison, somehow. Then they'd just need to repair Eirin's mind in time for the full moon, and everything would work out.

Udonge knew things weren't that simple, though. Youmu still hadn't returned from her meeting with the Prismrivers, so the Hakurei Border was still at risk, potentially dooming Gensokyo -anyway-. And now Remilia had put out a bounty on Satori large enough to ensure that everyone in Gensokyo would want to claim it... finding Satori in these conditions was going to be impossible.

At least, that's what Udonge was thinking before she got Satori's message. She was tending Marisa when she heart Satori's voice in her head.

_I'm currently within Senkai. Keep it quiet where I am; there appears to be a large bounty on me. Once you need me, contact me or come yourself. Someone in the human village can probably tell you how to get here._

Udonge was ready to bring Eirin to Satori, of course, but... she looked over the room. Sakuya's wounds were healed... she had left earlier and resumed her duties, thankfully. Marisa was stepping through death's door, and Keine was hovering near it. Reisen was stable, but she had yet to recover most of her lost blood. Toyohime and Kaguya had had their wounds treated, and were mostly fine, apart from the poison. Eirin and Tewi had both had all their limbs broken (Mokou had apologized for the latter, but had seen no other alternative), and ensuring they healed properly was just one more thing to watch. Mokou herself had said she wished to help, but Udonge knew that she'd do more harm than good in her current condition.

Chen's injuries were minor, but the poison seemed to be even worse for her... her breathing had been irregular and labored, and had even stopped completely a few times. Her condition demanded constant vigilance, or she'd almost certainly die... and Ran had made it very clear that allowing Chen to die would be dangerous indeed. As for Medicine Melancholy, her injuries had been severe, but were healing rather quickly... if Udonge were at all short on general anesthetic, she'd actually be worried. For now, though they had enough to keep Medicine under until they could decide what to do with her... Eirin would undoubtedly have some insights.

Yes, all ten of her patients needed her attention, and as helpful as Alice was, even the magician needed to rest now and then. Once Youmu returned, Udonge would have to go to the human village, though... she didn't have the time to wait for Keine to regain consciousness. Udonge got an idea and grabbed the doll she had used to communicate with Satori earlier.

"Satori? Hello?" But there was no response. Perhaps the other doll was destroyed... or perhaps it was 'out of range', however far -that- would need to be. Sighing, she put the problem out of her mind for now. Until there were at least two other people to keep an eye on her patients, she couldn't leave them.

"Why didn't anyone tell me Marisa is injured?" Patchouli tried to shout as she attempted to burst through the door. It ended up as a brief wheeze and a slowly creaking opening instead, but the intent had been clear enough.

"What-"

"Where is... there she is..." Patchouli hovered over to Marisa and studied her for a few seconds before Udonge gathered herself and managed to shove Patchouli out of the way.

"You need to leave her be... her condition is critical! I'm doing my best to keep her alive, but..." Udonge's ears and eyes drooped.

"Of course she's in critical condition! A blind fool could see that!" Patchouli declared, her enthusiasm carrying through her weak voice. "How in the hells did you manage to keep her alive this long?"

"I was just... treating her like my master taught me." Udonge replied, but Patchouli wasn't interested. She looked around, instead, looking at the other patients as well.

"Why didn't Remilia tell me anything? I was wondering why Sakuya hadn't been replying to my summons lately... then she shows up earlier today, says she's been laid out for a week or so..." Patchouli began ranting... Udonge couldn't help but reply.

"I have this feeling she'd say 'You never asked.'" Patchouli glared at her in respose, but the fire in her eyes quickly dimmed, and her eyelids once again drooped.

"Yes, you're doubtless right. Thank you for helping Sakuya out... though it seems you may need my assistance to help these folks."

"Any help you can offer would be appreciated, of course, but I don't know how much-"

"I'm quite learned in these tasks... I regularly tend to myself, you see. I assure you if that bumbling oaf of a doll obsessed poor excuse of a magician can manage it, its well within my capabilities." Patchouli seemed confident enough, though Udonge was glad Alice was taking a break right now...

Udonge gave a summary of the situation, and watched as Patchouli worked... true to her word, she seemed to have quite some knowledge of healing, though it was clear she had relatively little practice... not unlike Udonge herself a few weeks ago. Alice lacked the knowledge, but had the practice and skill... together, they could probably manage a short while in Udonge's absence.

Now, Udonge was free to try and find Satori... she just hoped she found Satori before the bounty hunters did...


	12. Chapter 12

_**Next Morning, at the Human Village**_

Udonge looked around. She hadn't been back to the human village since Eientei had fallen under Medicine's attack. She noticed the wanted posters... it would be impossible not too; no matter where she went, she could see at least three, posted on walls and windows and doors, hung outside stores, and so on. She hoped no one would go for the bounty, but Remilia had included that bit about Satori being easy to defeat, so she didn't have a lot of confidence that people would leave Satori be.

She had no idea where to start looking for Senkai... Satori's message had been rather vague. She asked a random passerby.

"Excuse me, could you... tell me the way to Senkai?"

"To... where?" The young man replied. "Never heard of it..."

Udonge sighed. "Thanks anyway..."

"Don't get all depressed. Someone's probably heard of it...you should probably ask Akyuu or Keine. Haven't seen Keine around lately though, probably away on business."

"Alright. I'll check with Akyuu, then. Thanks for your help." Udonge waved as the man continued on his way. Udonge was relieved... at least Keine's disappearance hadn't caused any problems here. She might know, but Satori had known Keine was at the Mansion... so Satori at least didn't consider it likely.

Udonge made her way to the Hieda family's holdings. She'd been there several times before, and while Akyuu had a tendency to ask some... odd questions (She still had no idea what would make a hand grenade 'holy'), Udonge couldn't deny that they Akyuu was most likely to know anything about Senkai. She was usually willing to help Udonge, as the rabbit youkai had helped treat Akyuu several times when she was too sick to make it to Eirin's clinic.

As she approached the household, she was acknowledged by the guards.

"What brings you here today? A bit early for a checkup, isn't it?" The first guard, Masahiko, asked. They knew Udonge in passing, and she suspected Masahiko was simply curious now. These two were more of a formality than anything else, a sign of status that the Hieda household could afford guards, whether or not they were needed. Udonge appreciated the cheer they brought, though.

"It's really complicated... I just have some questions for her" Udonge looked nervous, unsure of how much she should say. Luckily, they didn't press the issue.

"Well, she's actually out right now. She's trying to get to know some newcomers a bit better. What were their names, again?" Masahiko asked his fellow guard, Hoshi. She considered for a while, then answered.

"I think the one who talked all odd was Futo. Remember? Akyuu got nostalgic from speaking with her, so they went out for some drinks with that ghost lady down at the pub down the street."

"That's right... I keep forgetting she's already old enough to drink." Masahiko replied... Udonge could never forget that...

"You might remember better if you'd been the one to have to treat her first hangover." Udonge muttered. Hoshi laughed in recollection.

"That's right... we ended up calling for you because she swore she was sick and dying. Her parents were so worried she was about to die, only to find out she was just suffering from a hangover." Masahiko grinned, and even Udonge felt her mood lifting a bit... Akyuu was sickly, yes, but she did tend to worry too much about her own health.

"Alright. Well, I'll see you later then... assuming everything goes well." Udonge turned to leave.

"Oh hey, we were thinking about going after that bounty later. Mind joining us? Heard you have some crazy mind powers that might help. Even split three ways, it's plenty of money." Hoshi asked.

"Oh... Ah... no. Umm... I think... I think you shouldn't go after it, actually. I... I mean, can... you really trust Remilia?" Udonge stuttered out.

"Well... she hasn't broken her contract and attacked us..." Hoshi answered. Masahiko shrugged and added "Never met her, actually. Her maid seems nice enough, though." Hoshi turned back to her fellow guard...

"You've just got a thing for her... she's creepy, if you ask me. There's something -wrong- about her." Masahiko shrugged innocently and averted his eyes.

"But... I... I don't think you should... I... I'm not sure..." Udonge looked around worried. "I'm not sure... you should trust her..." Udonge said quietly. The last thing she wanted was for some of her friends to be treated the same way she had been... and deliver Eirin's only hope into Remilia's waiting clutches at the same time.

"Alright, alright. I suppose if it were that easy, the bounty would be claimed already, eh? Probably just the little kid's attempt to make a bigger name for herself." Masahiko conceded. "Still, wouldn't mind if that money fell into our lap... anyway, you'd best hurry. I'm not sure how long they planned on staying at that pub."

Udonge let out a relieved sigh and waved as she hurried off.

"I'm telling you, it'd never work out between you two." Hoshi chided her companion, who was watching the lunar rabbit move away.

"You're probably right... doesn't make her any harder on the eyes, though." Masahiko grinned, while Hoshi simply sighed.

* * *

_**Senkai, in the hermit's home.**_

"So what brings you here? Seems you're a bit on edge." Miko asked as she sipped some tea with Satori. _She must be busy... I thought she'd be eager for some company._

"You thought wrong... well, a bit. I -have- been very busy, but I'm not especially hungry for company." Satori stated simply... but Miko knew better. Satori's slightly averted gaze and a heavy set of shoulders suggested something different.

"Not for mine, no, but you desire company, no doubt." _With who, though... her sister?_ Miko thought... and saw Satori shift subtly at the thought... it was close, but not quite... Miko guessed again.

"You'd settle for any other satori, wouldn't you?" Satori's mood visibly fell... even someone far less perceptive than Miko couldn't miss it.

"Yes... but it's not a company I'll be getting, so let's talk about something else."

"Why not? Take a bit of time, go back home, meet with your family... you need this..." _I wonder why she came up to the surface, anyway? Something about her duty..._ Miko could tell immediately she had said the wrong thing. Satori replied with a distant, upset tone.

"My family isn't home. They're dead. Just like every other satori. New. Topic."

_She's serious... that explains the connection to her sister then, if they were the last two..._ "I'm... sorry... I didn't realize your situation." Miko's heartfelt apology was appreciated, but didn't do much to mend the damage her earlier thoughts had wrought.

"Every time I think I'm over it, someone brings it up. For all I know, there -are- other satori, somewhere outside Gensokyo. I doubt it, but I do know there certainly aren't any others here. To answer your next question..." Satori was insistent on changing the topic, it seemed... Miko could feel the youkai's composure slipping, and decided to allow the topic change.

"I'm doing some work for the Yama. The demons of Makai are attempting an invasion, and I've been tasked with stopping them." Satori explained. _Hah, I knew that Byakuren-_

"Sorry to spoil your fun, but she's not involved. Well, she was, tangentially. I wonder if she's recovered...?" Satori mused. _Recovered...? What did Satori do to Byakuren?_ Satori frowned, and Miko realized that Satori had taken the thought as an accusation.

"You already know my answer to that..." _She told Byakuren the truth and Byakuren didn't like it...?_ Satori nodded and continued.

"She was rather heavily bound to something from Makai... I asked to destroy it, and she refused..."

"Well, then she clearly-"_ deserved whatever she got._

"It's not that simple. Imagine if I asked that I destroy your sword." Satori gestured to the seven star sword Miko always wore at her hip.

"And let you kill me?"_ Of course I'd ref...use..._ realization dawned on Miko. The sword was her old body, an integral part of her being.

"Indeed. I see you understand, now. Her connection was no less, though it was a different sort. I wonder if she'll ever recover, really.

"Well, she shouldn't have worked with-" _the demons so closely, then._

"In her defense, she was tricked. They spent several centuries in an elaborate deception... It seems they're rather cunning, you see. Besides, she wasn't imprisoned there by -choice-, you know." Miko wasn't entirely ready to believe in Byakuren's innocence, but she had to concede that Satori at least was... and Satori had a very good grasp of these sorts of things.

_Perhaps I should meet with her again. Now seems the perfect time._

"I should remind you that she has several very loyal and influential followers. And the last thing we need is another war within ourselves. It seems Remilia's set up-" Satori caught herself just in time. Miko wasn't especially fond of money, but Satori knew Miko wouldn't be able to resist the prestige that would come with Satori's capture... and certainly wouldn't mind the money in addition. Add in the fact that Miko pitied Satori enough to honestly believe she might be better off dead, and Miko would doubtless turn her in.

"What about the vampire child?"

"Remilia wants to talk to me about some scheme of hers. I'd rather not be distracted, as I'm busy saving Gensokyo and all, but she seems determined to get a hold of me. So I thought I might hide here to wait for it to blow over?"

"I don't mind, but..." Miko put down her tea and leaned forward across the table. "You aren't telling me everything. I thought you valued honesty." Satori winced... she had trouble enough lying at all... Of course Miko would pick up on it.

"You're right, I am hiding something. I... I would rather not say what it is, though." Miko noted Satori's gaze darting away from Miko... whatever it was, it concerned Miko in some way.

"Well, you'll tell me when you're ready, I suppose."

"Oh... well, would you mind not going back to Gensokyo for a while? I'm worried someone might see through the hole and notice me."

"I really don't like people attempting to deceive me, and having you of all people do it is very disappointing. If you have a request simply say it. If you're willing to tell me the reason, then do so. If you're not, don't make up a ridiculous lie." Miko was getting upset. _Of all the people to lie..._

Satori blushed. "Fine. Please don't go to Gensokyo until I say? It shouldn't be terribly long. I just need to meet someone here before you do."

Miko nodded... _Just what is she hiding? She's trying to keep something from me... it seems she's worried about betrayal... but why...?_

The two finished their tea and Miko started to show Satori around Senkai, keeping a curious eye on her. It was a land full of emptiness, but full it was. Even the spartan building Miko lived in seemed ostentatious compared to the rest of Senkai. The sense of an occupied, saturated void put Satori on edge, but... she wasn't sure why.

* * *

_**A Pub in the Human Village**_

Udonge looked around the open air pub, and within moments found the group she was looking for. At least, she recognized Akyuu, and she didn't see any -other- ghosts drinking there.

"Hello... Akyuu?" Akyuu turned around at the sound of her name and waved Udonge over. She was clearly a little inebriated, but the gray haired young woman in white and blue was particularly drunk. Udonge wasn't sure if the third, the ghost woman in green with two spirit tails instead of legs, had even been drinking at all. She seemed sober, anyway, though there was a drink in front of her.

"Hey, what're you doin' here?" Akyuu pondered aloud in a far less formal tone than Udonge was used to from her. The other two turned their attention to Udonge as well. The ghost woman introduced herself and her companion while the woman in white and blue stared for a few seconds, struggling to focus her eyes.

"I'm Tojiko, and this is Futo... seems you already know Akyuu. Who might you be?"

"I'm Reisen Udonge Inaba..." Udonge started, but quickly added. "Ummm... Udonge is fine, though. Nice to meet you." Futo finally focused her eyes and upon noticing Udonge's ears, jumped up, unsteady and exclaimed.

"My word! A youkai! Worry not! I shall vanquish it!" Futo staggered a few steps, then fell. "A fiendish assault indeed, but I shall not yield to your evil!" Futo started to stagger back to her feet as Akyuu chuckled.

"She's a bit of a lightweight who doesn't know when to stop drinking. You know the sort, I'm sure." Tojiko explained... Udonge averted her eyes as Tojiko's comment reminded her of the second lunar exhibition...

"Ah... yes..." Udonge stammered out. Tojiko turned her attention to Futo.

"Don't worry, Futo, it's just someone wearing rabbit ears to celebrate a festival."

"Such... unusual traditions..." Futo grasped her head and tried to seat herself... which took several attempts, but ultimately succeeded. "I fear I shall never become accustomed to them..." Tojiko sighed, resigned.

"So... what... -does- bring you here? I'm just fine for once, as you can see." Akyuu said before taking another sip of her drink.

"Well, I was told you might know a way to Senkai?" Udonge asked.

"Senkai... where have I heard that before?" Akyuu pondered. "It sounds familiar..."

Tojiko explained. "I'm sure we must have told you... that's where the crown prince is living, now." Akyuu's face lit up in recognition.

"That's right, that's right... do you... know how to get there? Because I don't..." Akyuu asked of Tojiko.

"Of course I do. Futo does too, but... well..." Futo was downing another drink. "She's in no fit state to lead you there. Do you need to speak with Miko? We can simply ask her to meet with you, if you'd like."

"Who's Miko?" Udonge asked. This clearly wasn't the reaction Tojiko was expecting.

"If you don't know who Miko is, why do you want to go to Senkai? How do you even know what it -is-?" Tojiko was becoming suspicious... Akyuu spoke up to allay her suspicions.

"She probably just heard it mentioned and got all curious or somethin'." Akyuu waved the issue away dismissively, but Tojiko wasn't convinced.

"Yeah! Um... that's... that's it." Udonge 'confirmed.' She really needed to work on her lying... and her assertiveness, for that matter. She felt like a completely different person, now that she wasn't surrounded by wounded. Udonge felt out of place, though it was only recently she had fully realized that medicine -was- her place.

"Not buying it. There's not another thing -there-. The place is as empty as Futo's head over here." Tojiko indicated her drunk companion, who, oblivious to the nature of the comment, raised her glass to Tojiko in salute, before taking another drink.

"Well.. there is, and... I need to find it. So can you take me there? Please?" Udonge pleaded. Tojiko considered, and eventually shrugged.

"Sure, fine, but I'm telling you, you're delusional. Haven't really spoken with Miko since a few weeks ago... bit of an argument we had." Tojiko explained. "It'd do us good to see her again, now that some time's passed. Besides, Akyuu's never been, and Futo..." Tojiko took the drink from in front of Miko. "Needs to stop drinking for a bit."

"Return my drink at once! I have yet to uncover its secrets!" Futo babbled quietly as Akyuu spoke over her.

"I think I'll pass on the offer, but thanks. Perhaps another time, but I gotta get back home before everyone dies of panic. See you later, and Give Miko my regards."

Tojiko nodded and handed Futo's partially finished drink to Akyuu. "Suit yourself. Had a good time and all that." Tojiko 'stood'... rather, she hovered up off of her chair, and started hovering out the door, pulling along an unresisting, staggering Futo. Udonge followed quietly behind as Akyuu sat and finished off the drink.

"First, we gotta find a crack... Miko's got really sharp senses... finds the things in thin air, I swear. Us? We've gotta look for something a little bigger." Tojiko started walking down an alley, and Udonge nervously followed her. Tojiko started looking over a wall carefully.

"Ah, here we go. Can't believe this is still here. I'm beginning to think this house is just abandoned." Tojiko stopped to examine a large crack in the wall. "Now follow closely and don't hesitate. The path won't remain open for long."

"What do you mean?" Udonge asked. Tojiko cast a spell, and dragged Futo through the crack. Unsure of how they had managed to fit, Udonge tried to follow...

* * *

_**Senkai, Miko's Dojo**_

Satori wondered again how her pets were managing without her. She realized she should try and contact them, but Senkai seemed too remote... her communication spells weren't able to reach Chireiden. Miko was sitting nearby, trying to clear her mind, but she wasn't having much success. She kept finding herself thinking about her past, her companions Miko and Tojiko, her mentor Seiga, the business she had set up in Gensokyo, and the buddhist temple that had sealed her...

While Satori had rarely had the opportunity to observe someone in meditation, and indeed, had been warned as a youth years ago to avoid doing so, Miko's dilemma was interesting. Miko was in the middle of wondering how to approach Byakuren's new situation. _On one hand, she's more vulnerable than ever... this could be my chance to remove her threat to this land once and for all. On the other hand, pouncing on her while the demons are poised to invade would be hard to explain... not impossible, though... especially if I push the fact that she collaborated with them while imprisoned. _

Satori saw a trio suddenly appear. There was Udonge, of course, as nervous and insecure as usual... her mind quickly brought Satori up to date with events at the Scarlet Devil Mansion. It seemed Medicine had been captured, but at no small cost. Udonge was even now worried about her patients, left in the hands of the magician pair. She knew they were capable, but doubt still lingered... Patchouli, after all, had quite a history with Marisa. Satori turned her attention to the other two.

Futo Mononobe was... well, drunk, mostly. It was awful difficult to get a read on her, especially as she was only conscious for a few moments. She was mostly confused, and saw the merest glimpse of her surroundings before blacking out. Miko had noticed their appearance quickly, left her meditation, and moved to catch Futo as Tojiko let go of her.

Tojiko Soga was far sharper minded than her drunken companion, and upon seeing Satori, immediately recognized her as the person on the wanted poster. _There she is! She must be going after Miko! Just in the nick of time!_ Tojiko was thinking as she pulled out her spellcards.

Satori was faster though... her spellcards were already drawn and she spoke swiftly to Tojiko. "A Spellcard duel, then. You win, I go with you, as you wish. I win, you neither tell anyone where I am nor why I'm here."

_She's almost as good at reading me as Miko_. Tojiko thought as a smile formed on her face. "I accept. You're mine, Satori Komeiji."

Miko looked on, confused. "You two have met?" _It seemed as though they'd never done so before, though..._

"Something like that. Sorry, but we've a duel to resolve. It should only take a few minutes." Satori explained and hurried out of the building.

"At least she has the decency to take it outside..." Tojiko said as she followed. Miko carried Futo along, joining the dueling pair outside.

* * *

_**Myourenji**_

Byakuren stirred. Nazrin, currently watching over her, called out.

"Shou! She's waking up!" Nazrin was both eager and nervous. Byakuren had been unconscious ever since that hellish satori came by. The temple was growing restless, and the demands to speak with or meet with Byakuren, or to have her lead a sermon or solve this or that problem were piling up. One of the most influential and recognizable people in Gensokyo had suddenly vanished, and only Byakuren's closest friends knew why. But now, she was finally waking up.

Byakuren sat up, looking confused, then panicked. "Where is it?" She searched her person, then started looking around the room.

"What are you looking for?" Nazrin asked.

"Yes! You can find it! Where... where's my scroll?" Byakuren asked, desperation clear in her voice.

"Your..." Nazrin thought... come to think of it, it hadn't been on her when Shou had brought her in. Perhaps Shou picked it up and lost it on the way back or something. Nazrin nodded. "Yeah, I can look for it. In the meantime, you've got some catching up to do. You've been out for a while, now."

Byakuren hardly looked relieved, but nodded. She still looked around the room, now standing and checking every cabinet nearby. "Thanks... I'll... go and... do... whatever... then?" Byakuren was clearly not the assertive, collected person she had been earlier. Nazrin was concerned... perhaps it would be best if she be kept inside right now. At least until she regained all of her senses.

Shou entered the room. "You really are awake! We've been so worried!" Shou walked up to Byakuren and embraced her, but Byakuren's return embrace wasn't as heartfelt as it had once been. Something was wrong. Byakuren herself made it clear immediately.

"Have you seen my scroll anywhere? I... I can't feel it." Byakuren asked, while Shou looked confused... Shou considered...

"You didn't lose it, did you? When you were carrying her in?" Nazrin asked.

Shou muttered. "One time! It was one time! Lose -one- thing over a thousand years, and they never let you live it down." Nazrin rolled her eyes and grinned. Nazrin still wasn't sure how the pagoda had ended up in Gensokyo, but Rinnosuke had had it for a few decades, at least. Still, it was everyone's favorite little thing to hold against Shou, who, all told, had otherwise done very well at keeping up with her duties.

"Anyway, no... she didn't have it on her when I picked her up. Maybe that satori stole it? She had it in the fight, I remember." Shou wondered alooud, watching Byakuren search in vain for the scroll, even checking places she had several times before.

"Do you think that's what Remilia wants from her? The scroll?"

"If so, then the fifty million she's offering is cheating whoever takes her up on it. You can find something that valuable, no trouble, I'm sure..." Shou was confident in her 'subordinate'. Nazrin nodded.

"I'll get on it right away. If we're right, I'll find not only the scroll, but all the money the temple will ever need." Nazrin went to get her dowsing rods. Shou wasn't so confident. She had seen the fight between Byakuren and Satori. The posters said that Satori was able to be beaten by Cirno, but the fight she had witnessed had Satori effortlessly dealing with Byakuren. Not the broken, scatterminded Byakuren that Shou now sat with, but the Byakuren who had given Gensokyo's greatest youkai exterminators a close fight, despite being outnumbered three to one. Shou knew that finding Satori would be only the first and easiest step.

Nue and Mamizou had gone missing earlier... Shou knew their absence wasn't a coincidence...By all accounts, Nue loathed Satori. Even mentioning Satori in Nue's presence had earned the speaker an icy glare. Shou felt a vague memory tugging at her, but all she could remember was that this had caused a number of problems somehow. Someone had been upset, or something. Shou shrugged the feeling away. She'd been busy, after all... she couldn't be bothered to remember the face of everyone who'd gotten upset the past few days.

"Byakuren. Calm down. There are some people who want to speak with you, and you need to compose yourself."

"I... Yes, of course. Just let me find my scroll. Can't go out there without the proper attire, right?" Byakuren chuckled nervously. Shou's predatory instincts, from over a millennium ago, occasionally piped up, and now was such a time. Byakuren was vulnerable... afraid. Shou's instincts told her to pounce... to take this easy victim. She ignored them, and instead spoke to Byakuren flatly.

"It's not here, or Nazrin would already be back. She'll find it, but until then, we still need Byakuren Hijiri." Shou approached Byakuren, who backed away, unusually afraid. "And -you- are not the Byakuren Hijiri I remember. No... she was a potent mage, purported to hunt youkai, and certainly with enough strength to do so. Not the whimpering, shameful woman now before me."

Byakuren cried... but not the tears of joy she had when reunited with her friends. These were the tears of a broken and beaten human... tears of despair and betrayal. Shou's disgust grew, and she unconsciously began to growl.

"You're going to... kill me, Shou... aren't you? Just like... you said you would?" Byakuren stuttered out. Shou recoiled, trying to remember where that came from... then she succeeded. When they had first met, Byakuren had gained Shou's trust by offering a test of her own resolve. Byakuren had told Shou to kill her if ever Byakuren stumbled. Shou, thinking it an easy meal at the time, had accepted. From then until the day Byakuren had been sealed, Shou kept watching Byakuren... but the powerful magician had lived up to her promise, and earned Shou's undying respect through her actions, even after she was sealed in Makai and released. Never had Byakuren faltered in her conviction or shown weakness since she had met Shou.

Until now.

Shou was torn. Byakuren remembered the promise, but Shou had come to respect Byakuren too much... had served as Bishamonten's avatar for too long. Fulfilling the promise now wouldn't be a free meal, it would be a betrayal and a murder. But would it be any less of a betrayal to go back on her word?

"You've earned two more days over the past thousand odd years, I think." Shou did her best to appear intimidating, a skill she had become quite adept at in her years as an avatar. She didn't really feel her words, but Byakuren seemed to buy the act, and that's what mattered.

"Two more days... and then I will claim our promise. Two more days to recover. Or I get a free lunch... Or maybe the crowd outside will tear you apart instead. Do you understand?" Shou growled, face to face with the now terrified Magician. Byakuren meekly nodded her head, and Shou spun on her heels and strode out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

Shou deflated almost immediately upon leaving. If Byakuren didn't get her act together soon, Shou was sure the crowd would turn into a full blown riot... thinking on it, her threat wasn't nearly as hollow as she had intended it to be. She sighed and started towards Ichirin's room. The girl had done a lot to keep the restless crowds under control. Her human nature, combined with her youkai endurance, was the only reason she hadn't collapsed under the strain so far... Shou hoped she'd manage for another couple days, at least.

As Shou walked away, she couldn't help but hear the wail of hopeless despair that issued from her friend's room, and was comforted only by the lack of an echo; it seemed Kyouko was out and about again.

* * *

_**In the Dojo at Senkai**_

Satori assessed her opponent. Tojiko was confident... she'd fought youkai before, and Satori was far from intimidating. She wasn't sure how Satori had gotten here, but Tojiko was glad she had arrived before anything went sour with Miko. Tojiko was willing enough to split it with Miko if she asked. Not with Futo of course... all she'd contributed was decorating Miko's place with fresh vomit.

Satori realized that although this was a spellcard duel, her defeat would mean her death or worse.. being taken to Remilia under the bond of a spellcard contract would give the vampire all the power she'd need to remove Satori as a threat. And if Satori fell before she could put her plan into action, all of Gensokyo would be lost... perhaps even the outside world. Tojiko may have been motivated by a great deal of money, but Satori was motivated by necessity.

The pair opened up with basic danmaku to test their opponent and get a read on them. Neither had any difficulty initially, of course. Tojiko was an extremely skilled flier, and nimble besides. Her mind, though far from Byakuren's peerless organization, was still simple enough to read... Satori had little difficulty finding gaps in Tojiko's opening volley. Tojiko, feeling she had a good read on Satori's movements, triggered her first spellcard.

"Thunder Arrow: Gagouji's Cyclone!" The air crackled around Satori and the smell of lightning filled the air around her, just before a bolt of lightning passed near her, several other bolts striking out from Tojiko. _Dammit!_ Tojiko's aim was a bit off. She made corrections, but now Satori knew how it was aimed. She read Tojiko's mind carefully, hovering, poised to move, and just as Tojiko committed the lightning to follow a path, Satori moved out of that path. The interval Satori had to move grew shorter and shorter as Tojiko's rage fueled her control over the lightning, but it was a foregone conclusion, and soon, the spellcard was defeated.

_You're not getting away, Satori!_ Tojiko's anger was rising... She had the fortune Remilia offered in all but in her grasp... she wouldn't let a chance like this slip away. Unfortunately, Satori's technique was amazing. Even as Tojiko began to move towards a perceived opening, a spray of danmaku cut it off. Soon, she was forced to declare her second spellcard with a growl.

"Thunderstorm: Gagouji's Tempest!" Once again Satori could feel the tension in the air, the lightning preparing to strike. She focused her mind on Tojiko's attack strategy and was almost defeated then and there... Tojiko's mind was so filled with anger, there was no strategy at all... no planning. Then the lightning crackled at random, Satori only avoiding the first bolt through luck. Dozens more lit the dojo, a constant rumbling accompanying the spectacle. Satori dodged furiously, but soon, she found herself temporarily blinded by the lightning, deafened by the thunder, and struggling for breath against the ozone stench in the air. Without Tojiko's mind giving directions, the lightning would be impossible to dodge without her physical senses... Satori was forced into using her own spellcard.

"Recollection: Terrifying Hypnotism." Satori's hypnotic pattern pulled Tojiko's traumas through her blind rage to the surface of her mind. In turn, this slowed Tojiko's momentum as her doubts began to overshadow her anger... the smell of ozone began to fade, and though Tojiko had managed to avoid getting hit by the card itself, her earlier confidence wavered as Satori immediately declared her next spellcard.

"Recollection: Melting Soul Jar." A wall of danmaku surrounded Tojiko on all sides, trapping her in a pot shaped cage. The danmaku at the top began to fall into the structure as it collapsed, raining down on the enclosed Tojiko. No longer on the offensive, she found herself struggling to avoid the hail of bullets. She managed to clear it, but anyone could tell she was off balance, now... Miko even seemed to have a good idea of what she had gone through...

The calm was suddenly ended as Tojiko was surrounded by a very familiar vessel before she could move; she recognized immediately that it was the same shape as the sort she had intended to use to become a shikaisen. As it began to melt, her memories tugged at her, sent her back to when her soul had found itself trapped within the faulty vessel Futo had switched it with. She hadn't recognized the trap in time, and now... now she had fallen for it again... had lowered her guard in the presence of the uneasy peace there had been, and she was stuck within as her new body melted around her. She tried to escape, but the only way was to somehow escape the vessel, to abandon her body. Hard, the first time, all but impossible the second, she dodged and weaved as best she could through herself, and somehow, eventually found herself outside of the pot. Satori now had her momentum going, and she wasted no more time in declaring her next spellcard, knowing it would be her victory... she wouldn't even need her last spellcard. Tojiko's heart was wild and unstable now... All that remained was one... final... push.

"Recollection: Ultimate Betrayal." Satori conjured a sword, or at least the illusion of one. Miko checked her own hip, and sighed in relief as she noted her seven star sword, now apparently in Satori's hands, remained at her own side as well. Miko could sense the conflict in Tojiko's mind... the doubt that was overwhelming her. The air hung silent for a moment, as Tojiko held her fire, clearly suspecting that this attack was the same as the previous. Satori slowly hovered closer, nonthreatening, until she was a few dozen feet away. She suddenly thrust the sword up towards the ceiling, and a spray of Danmaku burst out. Tojiko simply stared at it, stunned... and was hit easily, losing the duel.

When the spellcard was declared, of course Tojiko realized it was best to hold fire, lest her own actions only multiply and catch her in the middle of a crossfire... so she restrained herself. She was sure of the spellcard's nature, just from its name. Then she saw the seven star sword coming at her... nonthreatening, promising happiness in the future, despite her status as a vengeful ghost. An eternity seemed to pass as she waited for the sword and its owner to guide her as they once had. Her husband, Prince Shoutoku. The wisest man she had ever known...

Then, after so much waiting... waiting faithfully for his return... she saw a flash of light. But the one holding the sword now wasn't the man she was expecting; it was a young girl. She stopped, shocked. The light enveloped her, and she began to sob.

"Why?" Tojiko's grief was almost tangible. Miko could sense it easily... and her gut wrenched as she realized its cause. Satori hovered down to the ground, the crushing despair and betrayal gripping her as well.

"You really didn't consult her? Of all the people, you didn't even -think- about how she might react?" Satori was raising her voice, speaking for Tojiko as well as herself, and Miko's guilt tore at her.

"About what, though? I had a lot to take care of... I didn't have time to discuss every little thing with her.." Miko thought she knew the answer... but she had thought that before and been wrong.

"Now I see... I see how she manages to be a vengeful ghost, despite having forgiven her murderer... She has a new grudge to keep her going... She has a grudge against you, Miko.

"I didn't know what Futo was planning, I swear." Miko's own mind was beginning to crack open a little as well, now.

"No need to swear... I know you're innocent of -that-. The problem is that you aren't who she expected you to be. And to think, this misunderstanding could have been avoided if you'd simply told her, rather than building up her expectations for centuries. She wasn't expecting Miko Toyosatomimi..." Satori continued. Miko's vague comprehension would probably reach the right conclusion given enough time, but Satori didn't intend to wait that long.

"She was expecting the prince, Shoutoku. Her -husband-."

Miko knew now... knew that the grief and pain Tojiko was feeling now was all her fault. She approached Tojiko to try and comfort her, but the vengeful ghost grabbed Futo and fled Senkai altogether, trusting the one who had stolen her body more than the woman whose very form was an even greater betrayal.

Miko turned to Satori. _How could Satori-_

"It isn't my fault that she sees your new form as a betrayal, nor that you didn't consult it with her. Judge things brought within the light, not the torchbearer that sheds it. We needed to duel, and now you have a new issue to deal with. Sorry, but now perhaps you can understand why I don't exactly like fighting." Miko's thoughts echoed in her head. _I... knew she didn't like it. But... that wasn't a duel... that was an attack_. Satori ignored Miko and turning to Udonge,

"Sorry to keep you waiting, but I really did need to resolve this first. Now, it seems the remedy is ready, so we should bring Eirin here. What time was it when you left?"

Udonge was about to speak _Around noon, I think?_ When Satori interrupted her.

"Ah, good. Remilia is likely asleep, then. We'll just pull Eirin out of there." Satori told Udonge before turning back to Miko. "I'm going to open a portal to... oh... Actually, I almost forgot... I'm going to need you to do this. How could I have forgotten their pain?" Satori spoke, catching herself. She had nearly opened a portal to a room filled with people suffering from Medicine's foul poison. Instead, she merely created an illusion to illustrate to Miko where the portal Udonge needed would need to be placed. Miko glared at Satori... _She really expects me to help after what __she did to Tojiko?_

"Yes, I do, Miko. Because as much of a problem the demons are and will be, Medicine is a problem now-"

"Actually, Ran-" _caught her... she's in the mansion too, now, sedated._

"But her poison still is, unless you've found a cure in the meantime?" _Well, no-_ "Then that's not important, now is it?" Satori was agitated... Miko could tell she wasn't eager to help, but was doing so anyway. Of course, if her help involved anything like her nonlethal dueling, Miko was ready to tell her she shouldn't on principle.

"Now, I'll be waiting in the nearby room. Bring Eirin here, as she's the one we need. We can treat the others later, when we have time. I'll need some time to prepare myself, so be sure to knock before bringing her into my presence." Satori walked off to a small side room she had been preparing, and started meditating, building mental barriers to endure Eirin's pain.

Udonge looked to Miko before speaking quietly. "So... could you please open the portal?"

"I'll do one better..." Miko said, and simply reached into one of her walls... she pressed her shoulder against it and struggled to reach something. Finally, she nodded and seemed satisfied, then pulled.

* * *

_**The Scarlet Devil Mansion, Guest Wing**_

Patchouli was the one tending the poisoned patients. She had just renewed an air spell to keep Chen's breath steady, when she turned around to notice that Eirin's body had stirred. She started to move towards it, but it had halfway vanished into the space between the bed and the wall before she grabbed a weak hold on Eirin's foot. Patchouli pulled with all of her weight and strength, but hardly even managed to slow whatever force was trying to devour Eirin... Soon, she lost her grip, and Eirin's body slipped into the crack...

"What just happened?" She asked, confused. Patchouli looked under the bed, but nothing was there... someone had just abducted someone vital to Gensokyo's safety, and they had done it under Patchouli's watch.

"Oh, this is bad news..."

* * *

_**Senkai, Miko's Dojo**_

"Oh, thank the moon, she's safe..." Udonge sighed, relieved at the good news. Miko took a look at Eirin's body, and her extremely sharp senses were horrified. Eirin's agony was obvious to Miko... the Lunarian's desires consisted only of death... Miko nearly dropped the body, horrified, but managed to keep herself steady enough to set her down before moving to another empty room. Nausea overcame her, and she focused her mind, trying to purge the Lunarian's silent screams that had followed her.

Udonge looked once more at Eirin, whose condition was unchanged from her last checkup. Perhaps Miko simply wasn't used to seeing someone unconscious and not merely sleeping? Udonge wondered why Satori trusted such a weak willed person... and then immediately chastised herself. Satori trusted -Udonge-, as well... perhaps there was something more to Miko than met the eye as well.

Udonge waited a while to give Satori time to prepare, and held the three pills in her hands nervously. Doubts flew in her mind.

"What if I messed up? Maybe he directions were wrong, too? Why do we all need to take it?" Udonge questioned aloud, but Eirin didn't answer. She simply lay there, uncomprehending.

* * *

_**A half hour later**_

Miko had recovered, and properly braced herself, though Eirin's haunted silent screams were louder than ever as Miko looked at Eirin's body. Whoever had done this... this 'Medicine Melancholy' that Udonge had told her about... she needed to be exterminated. Anyone who would be willing to bring this level of suffering on another was either a fool who had no idea what they were doing, or evil to the core. And anyone powerful enough to do this was no fool. Miko's scowl told Udonge everything she needed to know.

Specifically, that she shouldn't overstay her welcome. It had been a while, so she knocked on Satori's door.

"Yes, I am ready. Bring her here, then feed us the remedy. It's time to resolve this." Satori's reply was clear through the door.

Udonge picked up Eirin's body, and Miko opened the door.

Satori felt the waves of agony eroding her mental defenses swiftly... it was far worse than last time, despite Satori's increased stability. Udonge swiftly carried the body into the room, and put a pill in Eirin's mouth, then Satori's, then her own.

She induced swallowing in the other two as she swallowed her own. She felt lightheaded almost immediately, and fell to the ground, quickly losing consciousness as her confusion peaked.

Miko watched as Udonge, Satori, and Eirin... faded away. She looked around, but there was no trace of them... not even a magical invisibility covered them. Wherever they had gone, it was far from here.

* * *

_**xxx?**_

Satori looked around, confused. This is not where she was expecting to be. She... wasn't sure what she -had- expected, but it wasn't... wherever this was. A strange iridescent mist seemed to surround her, and apart from a few poorly defined features dotting it, that was all there was to see. She looked around, up, down... all around her, that strange mist. Her thinking was a bit clouded as well, though not as much as those near her, she could tell. Presumably her mental barriers had protected her lucidity.

Udonge thought that being in this strange place was the most normal thing in the world. She was ready to accept anything, and her conscious thoughts were almost completely gone. _Huh... pretty. Nice place. Nice people._ She was hovering over Eirin's body. Satori was far more interested in the two others, though.

The first was dressed in a blue maid uniform, though her thoughts indicated that she was no one's servant. Apparently she simply like the aesthetic. _Wow... Eirin's in quite a sorry state. Wonder who she angered this time. How did she bring the others in that state though, I wonder. Seems that one_ the girl looked at Satori... _Is the only one still with us. I wonder who she is._ She seemed half awake, drowsy, as though daydreaming, viewing everything as though it were a great distance away.

The second had white wings to match her white dress, with blond, shoulder length hair. _Oh ho! The 'Brain of the Moon' seems to have none at all! Ha! I knew I recognized one of those people... to think she'd be stupid enough to come back here!_ The white winged girl's mind was no more awake than the girl in blue, but while the girl in blue was thinking pleasant, distant thoughts, this girl had far more horrific ones in her mind. Images of torture on a level that would impress even demons kept running through her mind, as though she were planning such activities on anyone she met... in fact, they were reminiscent of another being... Satori had to ask... but first, she had to find out what was going on... she dove a bit deeper into the pair's hearts.

"Hello... you there?" _Maybe she isn't as awake as I thought._ The girl in blue tried to prompt Satori, but the youkai was too busy trying to get her feet back under her and into the heads of the two.

The girl in blue seemed to go by 'Mugetsu', and the one in white was her older twin sister, 'Gengetsu'. Their minds made it obvious just where they were, which in turn explained everyone's mental state. They were in the Dream World... and yet, Satori was sure she was awake... and dreamy as Udonge, Mugetsu, and Gengestu were, they weren't asleep, either.

Satori finally spoke, much to the amazement of the pair, while Udonge was in no state to be amazed by anything.

"You two know Eirin, then..." _I guess Eirin must have told her_. Mugetsu thought.

"No, you're just... nevermind. What I want to know is why Eirin had this complex plan... just to bring us here?" Satori looked over to Eirin... still vegetative.

"Well..." Mugetsu began to ponder... _Maybe she thought she'd be awake here and able to fix whatever was wrong with her._

"Hmmm..." Gengetsu's thoughts weren't quite as inspiring. _Perhaps she's simply handed us a gift, realizing that she was going to die soon anyway. Well, I'm not about to turn down some extra toys..._ Satori spoke up before Gengetsu's thoughts could get any further.

"That makes sense, Mugetsu..." _How does she know my name? Did we meet before? Did I say anything?_ "No... I read it from your heart." _Read what?_ Gengetsu's thought was immediately replied to "Your sister's name, Gengetsu." _How does she know our names? _ "I just answered that!" Being the only one less than half asleep was becoming wearisome.

"Okay, let's go over this slowly. How do you two know Eirin?" Satori was having some trouble making out what was a memory and what was their imagination... She didn't dare let her mental defenses drop, lest she lose her clarity of thought.

"We could tell you, but then we'd have to kill you." Gengetsu said, dead serious, though almost simultaneously, her sister explained.

"She can bottle up magic into medicine, so she wanted ours to make some sort of dreaming pills." Mugetsu smiled innocently as she explained. Gengetsu turned to Satori. _Oh well. Now I guess we have to kill her. Wouldn't want Eirin finding out we gave out her secrets._ Gengetsu's eager grin was almost as unnerving as her thoughts.

"I don't think you should try to kill me..." Satori was going for a long shot here... but she was picking up hints from their minds. Her own memories collected from others were nudging her towards this... "After all, I've defeated Yuuka Kazami."

Mugetsu and Gengetsu froze. Their dreamlike stupor had been shattered, their minds filled with two things. Fear, and an image of Yuuka... wearing different clothes... and a different hairstyle, but very unmistakably her. After a few moments, Gengetsu looked around nervously and whispered.

"Don't say her name... It might draw her attention." S_he didn't hear? Please say she didn't hear._

"How do you know her?" Satori asked, but even after the question, Gengetsu and Mugetsu both were too afraid to even acknowledge her, in fear that she would come forth just from -thinking- about her.

"You shouldn't lie, alright? But that you even know... she... exists is proof enough of your might. What is it you want?" Gengetsu asked. _Few can even survive that knowledge longer than a night._ A recent memory sprang unbidden to Gengetsu's mind. A few days ago, she had seen Yuuka, wearing her usual checkered red pants and vest, as she vivisected some child. Gengetsu had quickly left the scene; while great inspiration, she had had no desire to be next.

Satori looked a bit confused, but continued, ignoring Mugetsu, who's mind had now lost the image of Yuuka to make room for more fear. The girl was completely terrified, and she didn't even know why. Meanwhile, Gengetsu clearly had some sort of closer connection to Yuuka, but even Gengetsu wasn't sure what it was.

"Well, I suppose we need to get out of here. How, though?" Satori suggested.

"Why don't you ask her? She's the one who got you here. She'll be the one to get you out." Gengetsu shrugged, gesturing towards Eirin. _I wonder how she managed that, anyway. _

"She made some... wait, you said she used your magic in her dream pills. Those were probably the butterfly dream pills, then, yes?"

"She called them something like that, yeah. Contacted my sister first..." Gengetsu gestured to Mugetsu, still frozen in terror. "Then me a bit later." _ Said my nightmares'd have some sort of niche appeal or something._

"Then... how did she contact you?" Gengetsu's mind wasn't too clear on that.

"Some sort of magic." Gengetsu, shrugged... she had no idea. Her earlier instability, previously shunted aside by her fear of Yuuka beginning to slowly creep back into her mind now that the green haired youkai was out of it. Satori sighed. Well, there's one dead end.

"Well... if this is the dream world, couldn't I just wake up?" Satori asked.

Gengetsu considered for a bit, looking over the three visitors. _I wonder._ She moved up to Eirin and poked her. _Nope... she's definitely here..._ Gengetsu continued examining the body, using some basic magic. "Not sure about that." Gengetsu's mind made it clear that dreamers typically didn't have the same sort of physical presence her three current visitors had.

"You mean we're physically here? We should just be able to go back, then, right? There must be a gate around here somewhere."

Gengetsu laughed derisively. "If it were that easy to get in and out of here, why would Eirin have needed such a complicated means of getting here, hm?"_ It's obvious enough you didn't just walk through a gate to get here._

What had Eirin been thinking? There was no way Satori could dive into her mind now, dropping her mental wards now to do it would just ensure that Eirin's pain... ripped... them... apart...

Satori looked back towards Eirin again. Come to think of it, the pain was all but gone. In its place was... nothing. Satori moved towards Eirin and focused her entire attention on her, trying to hear something... anything. It took several seconds, but there was a faint whisper of something... doubt, it seemed. Satori looked back towards Gengetsu.

"How... how did you fix her?"

_What? Eirin doesn't look fixed to me. What's she talking about?_

Satori clarified impatiently. "Her pain is gone. Not much else there, but she's better now."

"Only way that would happen was if her pain were a dream; beings here can't dream at all. So she's... well, awake, I guess?" _Actually, yeah... I suppose that was her dream I was working on, wasn't it? Why would she take so many of the nightmare pills, though...?_

"She didn't. She was poisoned..." Suddenly, Satori had a flash of insight and groaned. "Medicine can do it too..."

"What? Of course medicine can poison. Most of it -is- poison." _What an idiot..._ Gengetsu thought, her mind beginning to fall back into the dreamy state it was prior to being sobered by thoughts of Yuuka. Mugetsu's mind was becoming similarly repaired.

"You said Eirin bottles magic into medicine... that she bottled yours." _At least she's paying attention._ "Right. Can you pull that magic back out? Someone's turned those nightmare pills into part of a potent poison."

"Of course I can. But why should I?" Gengetsu's grin was growing. _That's right. You're in my world now... with no way back... I don't see any reason at all to give up on that fun._

Satori looked around, and indeed, she seemed trapped. Still, she could figure out a way out of here -after- she accomplished what they came here to do. She felt certain that Gengetsu here was the cause of much of the poison's potency... that getting her to withdraw her magic so that Medicine Melancholy couldn't use it in her poisons was critical... indeed, it had likely been Eirin's plan. Satori growled a bit, her wards slowly eroding in the dreamscape... she wasn't pleased to be used as such a pawn. Even more infuriating was that she had to play along, or jeapordize -everything-. Eirin was a ruthlessly cunning one, there was no doubt.

"You will, because you don't have a choice." Satori drew four spellcards. "We're going to have a spellcard duel. You seem familiar with them."

Gengetsu laughed. "I've lorded over more nightmares than you realize exist. Of course I know of them. And I know your nightmares, Satori Komeiji." Gengetsu pulled forth some spellcards. "Seems you wish to face them."

Satori hadn't been expecting this. Gengetsu's dreamy state was hard for her to read... and it seemed while she was in this state, she had access to a much larger pool of knowledge than when she had been lucid with fear. Mugetsu, meanwhile, merely looked on, occasionally poking an equally spaced out Udonge...

"Seems I've no choice. If I win, you withdraw your power from Gensokyo... you stop manipulating dreams through the dream pills or anything similar."

Gengetsu's wild grin showed she eagerly accepted. "You realize that means my sister here will have to withdraw hers as well? Still wish to go through with it?" Gengetsu asked. _After all, our powers are intertwined._ Satori nodded, and Gengetsu continued.

"Alright... and if I win, I have free access to -your- dreams. Forever."

"I accept. Let's begin." Satori said, though the implications of Gengetsu's terms were weighing heavily on her mind.

"Consider this a preview of your eternal nightmare."

* * *

Almost immediately, Satori began to doubt herself. While not impossible to read, Gengetsu's mind was too cloudy. She could perhaps get an idea of the general pattern she'd be facing, but any specifics were left up to her other eyes to discover. The one thing that was clear in Gengetsu's heart was utter confidence that she would win.

The initial burst of danmaku already needed Satori's full attention. Thankfully, she was able to read enough of Gengetsu's intent to avoid getting trapped, but even so, it was difficult maneuvering. Finally, though, she managed to trap Gengetsu, forcing her to use a spellcard.

"Nightmare: Budding Enlightenment" Satori saw the bullets, green, with some gold explosions. They started out distant enough. Perhaps it was the dream land's odd effects on her mind, but she could swear they looked like sunflowers. She felt a cold, familiar fear begin to grip her heart, but she wove through the streams carefully. Gengetsu's mind was trying to work her somewhere... Satori decided that Gengetsu wanted her outside the stems... but too late, she realized she was wrong. She was trapped in a stem, and it began to close around her. Panic and fear engulfed her almost as much as the stream of bullets that had cut her off. Gengetsu's glee was tangible, and broke through Satori's despair enough to realize she needed to declare her own spellcard to escape.

"Recollection: Terrifying Hypnotism!" Satori's cry banished the dark memories Gengetsu's attack had brought, and gave the mistress of nightmares some of her own difficulty. In her dreamy state, the hypnosis was trivial, and Gengetsu's mind, along with all of the various tortures it had seen, was open to Satori. As Gengetsu's body easily and absentmindedly dodged the spellcard, Satori rooted through her mind for something to exploit. It was difficult; Gengetsu had seen many, many things... finally, she found a few potential holes to widen, and soon the spellcard was finished.

Satori had finally worked out a pattern to Gengetsu's dodging, and had little difficulty pinning her now, forcing the white-winged girl to declare her second spellcard.

"Nightmare: Enlightenment's Fall!" Satori heard voices. Hundreds of voices. No... it was more than that... she -felt- hundreds of voices. They were united in purpose and clear in intent. They guided her easily through the initial waves of Gengetsu's attack. Then something went wrong. As Gengetsu's bullets whizzed by her, some of the voices changed to screams, before cutting out completely. Every time Satori avoided getting hit, a few dozen more voices cried out in pain, then vanished. As they fell, their voices stopped being so helpful... They begged for help, for someone to protect them. Confusion began tearing apart the community as wails of death echoed everywhere.

Long ago realizing that she could no longer depend on them, save a single voice that remained calm, she followed its directions the longest. Yet still the attack dragged on. It wasn't a complicated pattern, but without the guidance of her opponents heart, she had to pay close attention, anyway. Thankfully, the one voice helped her through. She clung to it, and ignored the others, whose thoughts had turned to self preservation and fear, their unity shattered. Finally, as the last of the other voices died, the lone remaining, helpful voice saw her through the last wave. She had made it. With help, yes, but she made it.

"Impressive... but we've only just begun." Gengetsu's taunt cut across the dreamscape, and Satori, brimming with confidence, used her own spellcard in retaliation.

"Recollection: Fading Dreams!" Satori declared. Gengetsu started dodging immediately. It was an intense assault, more impressive than anything else she's seen Satori do. Few Gengetsu knew of could match it... but Gengetsu was ready to rise to the challenge. She dashed, weaved, and expertly flew through the small holes in the attack. Then the initial assault began to die down and become more predictable. She continued dodging, poised and ready for it to pick up again at any moment. Gengetsu kept up her assault and waited. "Is that all you've got?" She called out to Satori.

Satori merely waited patiently, her attack a mere stream now, easily avoided, casually avoiding Gengetsu's own attacks. Realizing it might be a trap, Gengetsu stopped firing and looked around. Satori's assault stopped entirely soon after. No... nothing behind, above or below coming at her... indecision wracked Gengetsu's mind. She simply hovered there, unsure if she should press the advantage now, or stay out of the obvious trap... for Satori was still wearing that insufferably smug grin. Gengetsu decided to wait. And she waited, and waited.

"What happened to all of your vigor, Gengetsu? Getting bored?" Satori prodded.

"I'm not about to be baited into your trap. I'm not that stupid. I can wait just as long as I need to."

"Oh? Because it seems your sister's getting quite bored." Satori pointed to Mugetsu, who had been watching. Though instead of sitting at the edge of her metaphorical seat as she had been, she was lounging, clearly bored herself.

In fact, it seemed Mugetsu's attention had left the fight altogether. A dangerous thing, considering the enormous crystalline energy that formed behind her. Gengetsu looked between it and Satori.

"Never even considered her, did you? Like you said, your powers are one... you're two sides of the same coin." Satori taunted. "I suppose that means if I beat her, then I beat you. If not, it's a good start, I suppose" Gengetsu opened her assault on Satori with a new intensity.

"How dare you bring her into this? She was just an observer!" Gengetsu cried out over her attacks, but saw the crystal collide with Mugetsu, horribly distorting her form, twisting and warping it... Gengetsu watched, most of her attention on her sister... as her sister completely faded from view. Whatever that attack was had consumed her completely. Gengetsu was alone with Satori... enraged, she declared her next spellcard.

"Nightmare: End of the Line!" Satori heard the voice again... just the one that that had remained reliable. And it guided her through the first few waves of the assault with little difficulty. Its enthusiasm quickly faded, though. Having a moment to finally look for the voice between the attacks, she turned to her side. Upon seeing the source, any doubt that she had recognized the voice was gone.

"K... Koishi?" Satori looked, stunned. What was her sister doing here? No... it can't have been her sister... whatever it was seemed to have an open third eye and shared the appreance of her beloved sister, but its thoughts had none of Satori's within them, it seemed.

"You just made me watch my own sister be destroyed. Time for you to relive that happy moment as well." Gengetsu spat out... And Koishi grabbed her own third eye. Satori turned back towards Gengetsu, but Koishi moved to block her view. Wherever Satori turned, she saw Koishi's image, ready to mutilate herself once again. When it had first happened, Satori simply couldn't believe Koishi would go that far. Even reading it from Koishi's own mind, Satori had doubted. But this time, there was no doubt.

"It's not Koishi! I know it's not!" Satori told herself... and comforted by the fact that the illusion couldn't read her thoughts, had nearly dispelled the dream, when she felt it again... an argument that had lived in her heart for centuries.

The younger sister, knowing that her eye was the reason she was hated... hated her eye as much as anyone else. The elder tried to comfort her... soothing thoughts of the simple, easily pleased minds of their pets. The younger rejecting the comfort; wanting what she couldn't have... They were communicating on a fundamental level... but they were only two... a far cry from the community they had outlived. The elder sister knew the younger must have found some way to hide her heart... she could never be serious about doing this. And the younger read this doubt, and, betrayed by the one left who she had thought could understand her, gave in and put out her eye, becoming as alone as she had thought she was.

Satori screamed as untold agony tore through her. She felt the core of her being vanishing... no. She knew it wasn't her own. She once again felt her sister seem to dissolve before her, fading from the view of her eye. She, too, was alone.

She was alone. But she had -been- alone! There was no way that could have been her! Satori's more recent memories; centuries of isolation, losing herself in books and the comfort of her pets... She was no more alone now than she had been. There was only one Koishi to abandon her, and she already had... Satori knew she could survive on her own, because she had.

Her eyes opened wide, breaking free of the dream, her resolve burning brighter than ever as she was faced with the intense danmaku that descended upon her... It had taken too long for her to escape; she needed a spellcard... she was just happy she had recovered soon enough to declare one.

Gengetsu's surprise was obvious. _How could she have broken free?_

"Recollection: Height of Power!" Satori called out, and Gengetsu felt empowered. She had only felt this way once before... Satori launched a few unimpressive stars in a fan shape, while Gengetsu launched an assault borne from the worst nightmares of anyone who had ever been in a spellcard duel. The attack was fast, impossible to read, and still had a density that put others to shame. Only one who knew every detail of the attack had even the slimmest hope of avoiding it, and Satori was trying. Gengetsu was sure Satori had powered them both to their very peaks, thinking herself the stronger, and was now suffering for her hubris. Satori, already intimately familiar with the attack from the depths of Gengetsu's mind, managed to last surprisingly long. Nearly four seconds before she had to declare her final spellcard. The spellcard that would break Gengetsu at the height of her power... The only attack that had done it before, she now faced as a spellcard...

"Recollection: Dual Spark!" Gengetsu froze at the name. _No..._ _Only one person can do that... _ Satori's form split in two. _which means... if the person I'm facing can... _A beam shot forth from each of her two third eyes. _ then I must be facing..._

"I'm sorry Yuuka! Please forgive my impudence!" Gengetsu bowed submissively and let the painful beam wash over her... only... it hardly hurt at all. The soulrending agony she had been expecting was absent.. it stung, but it was far, far below the level of power she had been expecting.

"My win." Satori declared, feeling the tug of destiny pulling at Gengetsu. Gengetsu looked up, and sure enough, it was the same satori she'd been facing all this time... she looked around, and saw Mugetsu looking terrified...

"You... aren't Yuuka..." Gengetsu stated flatly.

"No, but I've defeated her... we've been over this."

Gengetsu growled. "Then I'd best kill you before she learns I was fooled so easily" Gengetsu's eyes glowed... she was nearly at her height of power still... and Satori wasn't eager to face an attack like that again. The spellcard rules -should- protect her here... but then, it -should- have been impossible for her to hide Mugetsu from Gengetsu's eye as she had. While Gengetsu was still bound... (And immediately carried out her end of the bargain), Satori wasn't sure the binding prevented assaulting the victor... not here, anyway.

"I'm... just going to go, then. Come on, Udonge." The lunar rabbit, still in a trance, carried Eirin over to Satori.

"No, you'll be staying here for a while. There's no way out, you fool!" Gengetsu charged, now sporting a hideously deformed arm ending in a trio of wicked, three foot long claws, and Satori panicked. Perhaps it was her own fear, perhaps it was Gengetsu's nightmarish intent, but Satori fled through the cracks in her own psyche and the calm facade she had presented.

Gengetsu halted her charge and looked around confused. Satori was gone, only a strange rift in her place. Udonge seemed excited by it, and picked up Eirin, a dreamy, romantic look in the rabbit's eyes as she jumped into the rift, eager to explore whatever new landscape lie within. Gengetsu took this as a sign it was stable, and moved towards it... only to have it snap shut in front of her. She searched around and tried to reopen it, but whatever it had been, it was gone.

The white winged girl with the temporarily deformed arm heard a familiar voice and froze.

"Looking for something? Well, you can stop now. I'm right here... and who would need anything else?" Gengetsu hesitated turning around, knowing exactly who that voice belonged to. She had been tricked by Satori before, but there was no denying it now. Gengetsu tried her best to fake a smile as she replied.

"Why, no... no one, of... of... of course!"

"Good. Now, what was this about someone pretending to be me?" Gengetsu watched, petrified, as the woman tilted her head, and an innocent smile grew on her face.

The face of fear.

The face of Yuuka Kazami.

* * *

_**Author's notes. **_

_I think that's most of the major players introduced, then. Next time I'll almost certainly be wrapping up Marisa's plot, so if there are any other strong preferences/ideas with that, go ahead and vote on the profile page. I've gotten quite a bit of inspiration from it. Hopefully it comes out well.  
_

_Satori's spellcard duels are... tough, sometimes. And I just realized I've kind of avoided non-Satori spellcard duels 'on camera'. Anyway, I think I've got a good idea for a few of the next major points, so we'll see how things go. I'm a bit disappointed in myself with the time between these chapters, honestly, but I'm not comfortable releasing them until I've had the chance to read them over several times, which obviously takes a while... especially when I add an entire Satori spellcard duel as a result._

_Once more, thank you, everyone that's reading.  
_


	13. Chapter 13

_**Senkai**_

Satori landed with a hard thud on the ground. Moments later, Udonge landed on top of Eirin beside her. Udonge was a little spaced out, but when she realized what she had landed on, her mind snapped back into focus. She checked Eirin's injuries, and winced at the fresh breaks in Eirin's limbs. _Oh no... I need to fix her up!_ Eirin herself was doing much better, it seemed. Her pain was now closer to a pin in Satori's mind rather than a sword. Extremely unpleasant, but tolerable.

Satori could read Miko's thoughts as she rushed to the Dojo. _What was that? I hope it's them... let them be alright... if they died here-_ Miko entered the room and let out a sigh of relief.

Satori had finished standing up and was busy helping Udonge secure Eirin's broken limbs.

"What happened? Where did you go?" Miko said, looking them over... she braced herself as she looked at Eirin, but the silent, horrific screams were gone. _It... worked?_

Satori nodded. "I've both gained and lost some respect for Eirin. From here, Udonge seems confident she can remove the physical poison in a week or so..." Udonge nodded. _ Good... she's filling her in. I'll just be a minute._ Satori continued. "After that, we've got about another week to piece together enough of her mind to have her perform the ritual the world needs. Ah... actually... today's date?"

Miko was a little confused... _They've only been gone for a few hours._ Satori looked relieved. "Good. I was worried time might have... -hours-? Well, good thing we returned quickly, then." Miko understood, now... _Wherever she went, time flowed more swiftly._

"In any case, we should probably return Eirin once Udonge fixes her injuries. There's some equipment at the mansion that she needs."

"Sure, no problem." Miko was relieved. _If they'd died here, the shinigami would know where to find me... I don't need another thing to deal with now... I still have to make right with Tojiko... and Futo._

* * *

_**Senkai, Shortly Thereafter**_

With Eirin freshly splinted up again, Udonge was carefully carrying her on her back while hunched over, on a sort of stretcher.

"Alright, Scarlet Devil Mansion it is." Miko looked a bit, and reached out. But... nothing happened. _What? That... should have..._ She reached out again, trying to widen a crack in the Mansion for Udonge to step through... _What's going on? They can't have sealed the place.. it's only been a few hours!_

Satori sighed. "I suspect that's exactly what they did."

"No... it's too fast... something must be wrong..."

"The magician who dwells there is tremendously skilled. Actually... I can think of at least three others who also have some experience in dimensional travel... and they're all present or at least invested in the mansion. I think we might need to have Udonge go the long way and simply retrieve the equipment she needs."

_You aren't going with her?_ "She's going-" _alone?_

"Alone, yes." Satori quickly said. I'd rather avoid Remilia for some time, so I'm afraid I must continue to dwell here... When the time comes-"

"I'll bring Eirin back here, right... um..." Udonge seemed unsure how to broach the topic. _If I... can figure out how, again... I don't think those two would be willing again..._

Satori explained to her. "It's not terribly difficult. You just..." Satori paused, and wondered where to start. Find a crack, enter the space between the crack and the thing it was in, using magic just so... actually, as Satori thought about it, it was an extremely complicated procedure. "Nevermind, it's not important." She turned to Miko.

"How in the world did you find this place to begin with, anyway?"

"I was just looking for someplace quiet..." _I moved away from anything I heard, and eventually, that led here. Now that I know it's here, it's a lot easier to get here..._

"Yes, yes... connected to everything. Odd, though."

Miko nodded in agreement. "It confused me, as well... I'm still not sure of the true nature of this place. I raised the dojo shortly thereafter, to train with Tojiko and Futo, and any others that wished to join us." _It seemed a nice, quiet, out of the way place._

Satori waved the information away... she didn't need to hear it again. "Anyway, I think we'll need to send Udonge to the village, and she'll need to fly the rest of the way." Udonge nodded as she returned Eirin to the ground and Satori handed her a note.

"I need you to read and deliver these messages to their recipients. Don't let them know who they came from, or thing will get messy, of course.

"Alright... the Mansion's near the village, too..." _I can get there pretty quick, I think. The mansion was running low on medical supplies, so I should see what I can buy in town, too._

"Don't forget; time is of the essence. I've no idea how long it will take to repair Eirin's mind. In a couple days we'll open another door to here... I'll make it at the Hakurei Shrine. It's likely rather deserted with Reimu's death." Satori explained... _I know she knows I could just hear when Udonge would be ready if I'm in Gensokyo.. What is she trying to hide from me?_

Miko reached out again. _The Human village... yeah, right here._ She pulled space apart with her two hands, and gestured to Udonge. "There you go. Keep in touch."

The rabbit youkai walked through, carrying her master.

* * *

_**The Scarlet Devil Mansion, Guest Wing.**_

Ran looked around the room. "It seems they've stopped." Whoever had been trying to force their way into the mansion had given up. Ran wasn't the best at strengthening dimensional barriers, but she was confident she was second only to Yukari... and perhaps behind Reimu as well, as much as she hated to admit it.

"Thanks, Ran. I knew they'd try to strike again. Eirin was our best bet, but Kaguya or the moon princess may well have learned the method Eirin used to hide the earth from her in their time with her. I knew they'd try and take them as well." Patchouli slumped back into her chair with relief.

Ran was carefully considering who it may have been or why they'd have done it. She could only think of a few able to attempt such a thing, and none of them had any reason to help the demons. Of course, -no one- had a good -enough- reason to help the demons...

"Well, the Mansion's been warded sufficiently now... between you and the maid you should be capable enough of maintaining it. It seems Chen is doing a little better, but I'll leave her in your care until she's fully recovered. Don't disappoint me. Now, There's another issue we need to deal with."

Alice nodded and gestured to Youmu. "We need Marisa back... she's got important information about the demons." Sakuya was serving tea, while Mei-ling was focusing herself... this would be the first time she'd be using her talents to transfer Qi without directly taking or donating it. Youmu was nervous. She was willing to help Marisa, but Alice had been rather vague on just what that entailed, and seeing the crowd form worried her.

"Right... And I need her or Youmu to do something for me as well, once this is finished. You'd best get to it."

Meiling nodded and moved up to Marisa, beckoning to Youmu to join her. The witch was nearly dead. Her temperature had been steadily dropping... the only signs of life for the past few hours had been shallow breathing. Her face had a ghostly pallor... the frostbite and blood loss had nearly claimed her life, now.

"Sakuya, pay close attention. You should be able to follow what I'm doing." Meiling instructed her newest pupil, and the maid nodded solemnly.

"I'm willing to help, I really am, but... why me? Why not someone from the village?" Youmu asked.

"We asked around the village, and none were willing and able. We decided your essence was probably closest to Marisa's." Ran explained to Youmu.

"Why? I'm not even a full human!" Youmu didn't see why -she- had to be the one to give Marisa her energy. After all, she had herself only just recovered from her ordeal at the Prismriver Mansion.

"But you're both half-dead, aren't you?" Alice pointed out. Though that logic had given her the idea, she had grown more and more certain this was the correct choice. And if Marisa ended up a half-phantom, as Satori had suggested she might, she could still find her own way to immortality, as Alice knew Marisa desired. Though the Konpaku family had extended lifespans compared to humans, they fell far short of that of a full youkai... Finally, Youmu had a resilience well above that of a normal human, and so was most likely to survive the procedure as well. Alice was confident Marisa would be... well, not angry, at least. Patchouli had agreed when Alice had suggested Youmu, as well, so Alice would even have someone to share the blame with if Marisa -was- upset.

"I... huh. I guess we are?" Youmu conceded and sat next to Marisa. "What's this going to feel like?"

"You won't like it." Meiling said. She could sense Youmu's apprehension rising even more from the quivering in her aura, but it was time to work, now. Meiling placed a hand on Youmu's arm, placed Youmu's other arm on Marisa, and placed her own other arm on Marisa as well, completing the circuit.

Then, Meiling began to drain the sickened Qi within Marisa out, and at the same time, using her other hand, shoved at Youmu's. She sensed the half-phantom's Qi entering Marisa smoothly, filling the void that Meiling had just made... Youmu herself was emptying rather slowly, but Marisa was filling up unusually slowly as well... It was almost some of the essence of... slipping away, somehow.

Meiling pushed on, blocking out all distractions (And she could tell there was quite a ruckus going on)... even with an inefficient donation, this was Marisa's best hope. After several minutes of Youmu's Qi entering Marisa, the witch seemed nearly full, and Meiling released Marisa's own Qi back into her body, watching as it quickly stabilized, supported by Youmu's, before relaxing her grip on the two. She let out a deep breath and let her focus wane.

"Why didn't you stop...?" Alice's face was streaming with tears as she yelled at Meiling.

"It was going-"

"I begged you to stop! And now... now look what you've done!" Alice slumped to the floor. Meiling looked first to Youmu, who was, as expected, looking rather ill on the floor. She then touched Marisa again, and jerked her hand away... Marisa's body was as cold as a corpse, her breath completely stopped.

"I... she's alive, though! All that Qi she has in her... she... she must be alive." Meiling stammered out. As much as Marisa had been an annoyance, she hadn't intended to -kill- the witch. She turned to Sakuya, who was looking puzzled.

"She's alive! Tell them, Sakuya! You saw what I did!"

"I could tell you were doing -something-... I could tell there was something flowing between you three, but I couldn't fully make it out. Are you sure you didn't accidentally drain her?" Sakuya shrugged, unsure. She was only now getting used to using her Qi for anything... even sensing was difficult for her.

Ran looked impatient. "Meiling, Give Marisa Alice's energy as well."

Alice's tear stained face turned towards Ran. "Why? It's not going to return her to life."

"Meiling says she isn't dead, and she was the one doing the operation. Meiling, do it." Ran glowered at the gate guard, and Meiling grabbed a still surprised Alice, and reestablished her grip on Marisa.

Meiling shoved other concerns from her mind, focused once again on their Qi. Marisa was still nearly full, but Meiling drew from Alice (Who thankfully didn't offer any resistance) and filled Marisa's body as much as she could, stopping only when she was sure any more would be detrimental.

* * *

_**Marisa**_

Marisa woke up gently. She sat up, eyes still closed. She felt odd... Last thing she remembered, she'd been going through a snowstorm... Alice had saved her... Yeah. What in the world had she been thinking, going out in her condition? Marisa dismissed the thought... there were more pressing issues. For one, her wounds were gone. The pain that had ruled her was relieved... she ran her hands along her unbroken flesh quickly to make sure, and yeah, she was fine. In fact, she felt extremely lively. She'd never felt so good... not even when she'd mixed up that one drink from mushrooms. She was sure she could take ten Master Sparks and still be kicking.

Speaking of Master Sparks, she realized it wasn't merely her body that felt full of energy. Her magical reserves were far, far greater than they had been. She felt ready to burst with her new power... she must be dreaming... She might even be able to overwhelm -Yuuka- with this much magic and power.

"Marisa!" She heard, and opened her eyes to look at the speaker. Marisa was rather confused at the scene. It seemed she was in the Scarlet Devil Mansion, but the room had been remodeled to look like one from Hakugyokurou. She saw, Meiling, Sakuya, Patchouli, Reimu, Ran, and Yuyuko all looking at her in amazement... and Youmu and Alice on the floor, looking ill.

"What... happened? I feel like..." Marisa searched for an appropriate word... "Unbelievable." She did a double take and looked at Reimu again... and burst out laughing.

"Hey, quit laughing!" Reimu's face blushed in embarrassment again. "It's not like I wanted to wear these!" She was wearing one of Youmu's old sets of clothing, fitting no better than it had when Youmu had seen her. What's more, it was obvious to Marisa that Reimu had tried mending it herself; the sewing job on a number of tears was laughable, and the patches sewed on were done so loosely, and looked ready to fall off at any moment. There was a reason she normally went to Kourin for clothing repairs.

"I... think she might have gone mad... I told you she was already too full!" Marisa tried to bring her laughter back in check, but all she could manage to say was "Reimu..." before she caught another glimpse of the ridiculous outfit the shrine maiden now wore and guffawed.

"What about Reimu?"

"Look, there wasn't anything else to wear, alright?"

"I think she likes it, Reimu!"

"Not in the mood, Yuyuko."

Marisa tried to take a few deep breaths, closing her eyes. She needed to get her laughter under control, or she'd never learn the story behind Reimu's new taste in clothes. She finally managed to calm herself, an uneasy silence surrounding her. She opened her eyes again, and this time merely smirked widely at Reimu. She looked to the others.

"I don't know how you guys don't find that funny. I mean, Youmu's clothes don't fit her at all." Marisa said, eliciting a weak chuckle and smile from Youmu. "See? Even she gets it."

Marisa finally noticed Patchouli who was hastily wiping away happy tears as she spoke.

"We thought you were dead. Don't you dare get yourself nearly killed again."

"Great, the two best youkai exterminators are down for the count."

Marisa spoke again... "I don't know what you mean. I'm here, feeling better than ever, and you're doing just fine yourself, Reimu."

"Marisa... Reimu's dead." a worried voice told her.

"Everyone keeps saying I'm dead, Marisa. Don't buy into it, I'm just stuck in the netherworld until Yukari gets her act together."

"Come on, you guys. Stop treating her like she's not even there. Even -she- deserves more respect than -that-. Well, maybe not when she's dressed like that." Marisa chuckled lightly again.

"She -isn't- here, Marisa. I don't understand what went wrong... she shouldn't be hallucinating... Satori was sure this would work."

"Who are you talking to? It's not like they'd fit you any better, you know. And at least I'm wearing -something-."

Marisa looked down and grew rather confused. She seemed to be wearing nothing at all... she blushed furiously and tried to cover herself... but felt some sort of cloth covering her lower body. She grabbed it and pulled it up, though it seemed to be mostly transparent and felt odd... her stomach swam with the sensation for some reason. The dizziness soon passed, though. She turned and awkwardly covered herself as best she could with the strange cloth and her arms.

"Uh... Marisa, you do know we've been treating your injuries, right? We've seen you in less than this."

"Ha! Not so high and mighty now, are you?"

"Just be quiet and fetch me some clothes!" Marisa pleaded.

"Of course." She saw Sakuya vanish.

"If there were any more here, do you think I'd be wearing -this-?"

"Sure, I'll get you one of my robes."

"-What-?"

"Well, -she- doesn't seem like she's going to duel me over and over and destroy them. I can lend her some spares." Yuyuko left the room lazily.

"Thanks, Yuyuko." Marisa said, leading to a bit of an awkward pause while most of the others looked between themselves, confused.

Marisa awkwardly tried to make small talk. "So... uh. Why the big crowd?"

"It's just you and me... Whatever took you out must have hit you on the head mighty hard."

"We were trying an experimental procedure to heal you... it seems it worked, though... there... seem to have been side effects."

Marisa kept trying to protect her modesty. "Yeah, like making me feel -amazing-. What did you... do... to me?" Marisa grew suddenly concerned. She trusted Alice and Reimu, sure, but there had been a number of people in the room that hated her, too.

"What made you feel amazing? Marisa, maybe you should lay down and rest. Whatever killed you wasn't real gentle about it, it seems. Ummm... what... -did- kill you?"

"I'm not sure of the specifics, but Meiling transferred some sort of Youmu's essence over to you... then some of Alice's when hers seemed to kill you. And now you're all better."

Marisa was getting very confused now. "Wait, so am I dead, or not?"

"Dead as a doornail, considering how fast you appeared here. What were you -doing-, anyway?"

"Alive and kicking, it seems."

This wasn't helping Marisa's confusion. She looked herself over, and apart from her questionably clothed appearance, she felt fine. She was getting a bit of a headache, though, with everyone talking over each other. "One person at a time, -please-." she begged.

"If you're hearing voices, Marisa, perhaps I'd better leave."

"I see. She must be in the Netherworld as well."

"What? What do you mean?" The question came from someone else, but echoed Marisa's thoughts.

Marisa begged Reimu "No, wait, don't go... I'm not crazy, alright?" Marisa said, though she wasn't terribly sure... It all seemed so real... was she hallucinating?

"I've no idea what exactly happened, but it seems she's now quite alive, -and- quite dead... Alice's energy seemed to have stabilized that state, likely due to its somewhat odd nature. And I'd like to talk to you about that later, Alice. I suspect she isn't used to receiving input from multiple bodies simultaneously." Alice groaned from the floor in response.

Reimu stared at Marisa, curious at the sudden silence. "What are you -listening- to?"

Marisa clutched at her throbbing forehead. "Well, that explains a lot. So... this isn't a room in Remilia's house redecorated to look like Hakugyokurou... it's both?"

Ran nodded, while Reimu still looked confused.

"I suspect the shrine maiden is confused. You should probably repeat what I just said."

Marisa dutifully explained to her friends what she had just been told. "I'm somehow alive -and- dead... in the Scarlet Devil Mansion -and- Hakugyuokurou. Some sort of experimental procedure you all did to save my life. Ugh." Marisa looked down at herself once again, noticing the translucent cloth she was trying to cover herself with. "Which world is the blanket in."

Ran replied. "That would be ours."

Marisa nodded slowly... "And... who's all alive, then?" Everyone raised their hands or gave an affirmative... well, Alice and Youmu gave weak groans instead, but their intent was clear enough.

Right... bad question... "Who's in the scarlet devil mansion, then?" everyone except Reimu gave some sort of response.

"Okay... that's... making a little more sense. Now... uh... why is Reimu trapped in the Netherworld?"

"Because Yukari's too lazy to get me out! She closed the barrier on me!"

"Reimu was in the Netherworld when Yukari had to redirect her energies that were keeping it open."

Sakuya returned with a spare outfit of Marisa's own, while Yuyuko returned with a robe.

"Here, put this on."

"Here, wear this."

Marisa nodded and grabbed the clothes.

"Could you all kinda... look away...?" Marisa blushed. Everyone did so, much to her relief.

Marisa pulled on her bloomers, though they seemed just as translucent as the cloth she had been using. She grabbed Yuyuko's robe and put it over her shoulders... it too, seemed translucent, and she struggled to tie it in place. After she had done so, of course, she realized she wouldn't be able to put on the skirt over it, so she undid the ties, and tried to put her skirt on, but her hands kept getting caught in the robe... then she doffed the robe entirely, trying to get her blouse on, at least... she looked between the robe and vest, wondering which one would go on top of the other.

"What's taking so long? Forget how to dress yourself?" Reimu's sarcastic comments weren't helping.

"Uh... No... I'm just... um. Hey, Sakuya, do you have anything more like Yuyuko's robes?" Marisa asked sheepishly. The maid nodded and vanished again.

Marisa kept trying to dress herself, but the robe kept getting in the way when she tried to wear her witch outfit, and her witch outfit kept getting in the way when she tried to don the robe.

"Harder... than... it looks... eh?" Youmu's weak voice reached Marisa's ears from the ground.

The young witch suddenly realized something... "Youmu...? How did you ever manage this?"

"It's... a bit... different. Ghost's... see differently... "

Marisa's respect for Youmu had just grown a great deal... She supposed this split perception is why the half-phantom always seemed so half-baked. To maintain any sort of focus in this condition...

Sakuya appeared then with a robe almost identical to the one Yuyuko had handed Marisa. Marisa let out a sigh of relief. "Alright, this shouldn't take much longer." She stripped back down, then carefully gripped the two robes and lined them up... they seemed fully intact, rather than the translucence most other things seemed to have. Relieved, she donned the robes without any difficulty, and let out a sigh. "Finally. You can look again."

The others turned, and a number of grins covered the faces of her friends. Marisa looked at herself... sure, the robes were a bit too large, and she didn't have nearly the figure Yuyuko did, causing the outfit to hang uncomfortably, but at least she didn't feel exposed anymore. She'd worn sillier outfits before anyway.

Marisa swung her legs over the side of the bed to get ready to stand... but her knees didn't bend... except they did. Her head swam with the confusing input, and she lay back down on the bed, dizzy. "Reimu, I'm on the ground, aren't I?"

"Yes, You're resting on the floor." Reimu answered.

"Here, you're on a bed, several feet off the ground..." Ran explained.

"Ran, could you move me to the floor so I can stand?" The kitsune nodded and lifted Marisa. She felt herself being moved while staying still... the very sensation made her sick... Much to her dismay, her stomach was somersaulting... she vomited as she was placed down. For all the physical and magical vigor she knew she had, she was thinking her new condition wasn't quite worth the price. Everywhere she went, she'd have to avoid obstacles from both worlds or have this sort of nausea overwhelm her?

Marisa reached out towards the blanket and grabbed it to wipe her mouth, and pulled... but one of her arms felt resistance, and the other didn't... she sobbed as she jerked herself off balance in one body, falling back to the ground, blanket held with the other. This shouldn't be so hard! She just wanted to stand up again... but the nausea overcame her again as her other body fell as well, finally lining up again with the first, blanket released. She vomited again as tears rolled from her eyes... She'd been sick before. She'd get through this, too... she hoped.

"Sakuya, Reimu... can you please clean... it?" Marisa said between groans. She waited, and as Sakuya and Reimu wiped her mouth clean, she dry heaved a few more times... they weren't overlapping with each other... one rubbed one way while another lifted the cloth away for a moment... Finally, the hellish experience had finished, and they stepped away, Marisa now clean, though tears were welling up in her eyes.

Reimu had stepped into Patchouli, whose faces showed mirrored concern... the way their bodies overlapped even made Marisa sick, but she managed to keep her gut under control this time.

"Sorry to interfere, but there is something else I need you to do." Ran said, and nodded to Meiling.

"Could you hug Meiling? In order to keep the nausea down, it would probably be best if you hugged Reimu at the same time." Ran explained. "Where is Reimu right now?"

"Over... inside Patchouli..."

"What are they talking about?" Reimu asked.

"Just stand where you are... Meiling wants a hug, and I'm going to hug you at the same time... so I don't... you know."

"Why are you giving her a hug?"

"They saved my life... kind... of. It's the least I can do." Marisa explained.

"On one condition. They need to get me out of here when this is all done, alright? I'm not about to let another chance to go home pass me by.

"Reimu wants your word that you'll get her out of the Netherworld if she does this... Surely you can put in a word with Yukari?"

"I will personally see to it that the Hakurei is retrieved from the Netherworld if Reimu does this, yes. It is in our best interest as well, after all." Ran calmly explained.

"She says she'll do it." Marisa relayed, and Reimu readily agreed. Marisa could sense her desperation... how long had she been trapped there, anyway? How long had Marisa herself been asleep?

Meiling had moved to Patchouli's spot as the magician moved away... Marisa gestured to Meiling to move a little to one side... Meiling nodded and adjusted herself, overlapping herself fairly well with Reimu. Meiling was taller and generally more built, but there was a bit of space that had both of their torsos just about the same width for Marisa to wrap her hands around.

Not bothering to try standing, Marisa flew... thankfully, it seemed there weren't any major differences in air current or the like, and she avoided the nausea as she floated and landed on her two feet. Well, looking at Meiling/Reimu made her a bit nauseous, but she closed her eyes and that went away. Marisa walked slowly towards the pair, and reached them without difficulty. Taking a deep breath, she wrapped her arms around Meiling/Reimu, and they returned the grip as she opened her eyes and looked over their shoulders.

Then Marisa felt very strange indeed. The Netherworld began to fade slightly, while the Scarlet Devil Mansion grew clearer... Reimu seemed just as present as ever, but that was all... then Reimu began to fade as well... a look of panic crossed her face. She tried to pull away, but Marisa's grip was too strong... Marisa tried to let her go, But Meiling had Marsia's arms held in the hug... All Marisa got for her efforts were a wave of nausea. Reimu began to look pale and more lifeless as Yuyuko nearly watched.

"What are you doing! Stop it! Reimu's dying!"

"Reimu's already dead." Ran reminded Marisa.

"Don't give me that! You're hurting her!" Marisa cried out as Reimu's panicked, betrayed expression and her sudden screams that quickly lost their vigor and became groans... then silence as her consciousness faded... Soon Marisa's arms were the only thing holding Reimu up, though Meiling was careful to apply a counterweight to prevent Marisa's sensory nausea from acting up, and she was doing a good job of it. Then Meiling swiftly pulled Marisa's arms wide open, and Marisa matched the movements almost instinctively to avoid the sickening feeling... She started sobbing as Reimu slumped to the ground in a heap. Marisa couldn't find the humor in Reimu's state now... no, there was just pity for the shrine maiden.

The Netherworld began to grow back into existence once again, and soon the two worlds were in balance again, and Meiling released her grasp on Marisa, leaving the dead-living witch to fall on her knees at Reimu's side.

"So that was her solution. Poor Reimu... she really thought Yukari would save her." Yuyuko solemn tone of voice was unlike her usual bright self.

"How could you!" Marisa screamed at Ran. "She trusted you!"

"No. She trusted -you-. And I did as I said I would, in any case." Ran stated flatly.

"What... what do you mean?" Marisa asked, looking through tears at her badly drained, hardly breathing friend. She was answered by Yuyuko and Ran simultaneously...

"Yukari needed the Hakurei bloodline to live again."

"Then why? Why nearly kill her? Why make -me- do it? Why not bring her back?" Marisa cried out, shaking Reimu, though the nausea was kicking up, there not being a body on the corresponding floor in the Scarlet Devil Mansion... Still she tried to wake Reimu, or even get any sort of response. Yuyuko and Ran explained simultaneously again, and Marisa couldn't take it anymore, finally fainting from the stress and nausea as their words slammed into her head.

"You've taken her place as the Hakurei Shrine Maiden."

* * *

_**Scarlet Devil Mansion Guest Wing**_

"So that was your plan..." Patchouli sighed. "Well, it'll keep Gensokyo safe, I suppose."

Ran nodded calmly. "I wasn't expecting Marisa to be colocated, but it certainly made things far easier. Now then, I should relocate her to her new home and bring her her things while she's still unconscious. I'd rather not clean up more of a mess than I have to."

Ran then looked at Alice and whispered into her ear. "Then I'll be coming back for you. We need to talk about that magical essence you seem to have contributed. It was awfully close to that of Makai, wasn't it?" Alice was too drained to move much, but her concern was obvious on her face. Ran opened a gap, grabbed Marisa, and carried her through it.

"Well, I've other work to attend to... it seems I've some ways to go before I reach your level of mastery, Meiling. I don't know that I'll be able to call myself chief maid again until I can order the fairies around as you can." Sakuya humbly admitted before vanishing. Meiling turned to Patchouli.

"Sorry, but I must get back to guarding the gate. It seems Youmu is already beginning to recover, so she should be able to help you finish..." Meiling quietly and swiftly left, leaving Patchouli, Youmu, and Alice alone in the room. Patchouli pulled out a lump of clay and molded it into a golem, growing it swiftly before scribing the command to carry Youmu and Alice to the room with her other patients.

Ah, her other patients. It had taxed her a great deal to tend to so many... She wondered how the lunar rabbit had done it, and for so long... Well, Udonge's own good health probably helped a great deal. Patchouli hoped Udonge would return soon, now that Alice was drained... Patchouli would need the extra hands. At least Marisa was... 'cured', now. Keine's recovery had taken a turn for the better, and the poisoned victims hadn't suffered any complications yet, apart from Chen, and Patchouli had that well in hand. Patchouli suspect Mokou might be going a little mad... though she had recently said she might have found a way to purge herself of the persistant poison. Patchouli was eager to have another set of spare hands around, so she hoped Mokou was right.

Patchouli dismissed the transport golem once it had finished its task, disintegrating it into a fine dust that coated the floor, and began examining Alice and Youmu. "I never knew Meiling could do such a thing. How did you know she could?"

"Satori... told... her." Youmu stammered out, now able to move, though not quite enough to sit up. Her ghost half lay lazily on the floor near her, and she slipped into a deep slumber to speed her recovery.

"Must've been when she came for that visit a while ago, then." Patchouli sighed. Remilia's mood had been terrible lately. While Remilia's plans benefited her the most, she had this annoying tendancy to make them benefit everyone -else-, as well, making it in their best interests to help her. While she wasn't sure what Remilia was planning, Satori's 'necessary' death meant that Remilia wanted to keep the plan a secret. Patchouli had begun to do some preliminary research, and given the vampire's behavior recently, suspected it had a great deal to do with her supposed fate manipulation. Satori's words still haunted her... if Remilia -had- altered Patchouli's fate, was their friendship even real?

Patchouli coughed lightly as she shoved the question out of her mind and checked Chen's condition... still stable, with the spell she had going. The small enchantment was breathing for Chen... though it would probably panic Chen when she woke up, Patchouli reasoned that that day wouldn't come soon.

Next Patchouli moved to Keine... still fine. Her broken ribs were mending nicely... Udonge had started her on the path to healing quite well, and maintaining her recovery wasn't terribly difficult. Patchouli finally made a quick check of Medicine's anesthetic... She nodded, satisfied that a sufficient dosage was being injected, then sat down to read, accompanied only by Alice's occasional groans of discomfort.

After a few minutes, Patchouli realized she was very tired... her muscles ached from her unusual amounts of exertion, and everyone finally seemed stable, so she laid herself down. Taking one more glance to ensure Medicine's anesthetic was well supplied, she, too, fell into a tired slumber.

* * *

_**Soon afterwards**..._

Alice lay on the ground. Every muscle burned from exhaustion, her mind too tired to even sleep properly. Worries over Ran's impending visit did little to ease her mind. No doubt the Kitsune would accuse her of sympathizing with the demons or some such nonsense. She noticed Patchouli lay down to slumber, and couldn't blame her. Sure, she hadn't just had an enormous amount of energy drained, but she was far from used to the sort of work she'd had to do to keep Marisa alive. Apart from Alice, everyone else lay asleep or unconscious or badly poisoned. Or so she believed.

Alice heard a voice that had been filling her nightmares more and more until just a few nights ago, when they had finally captured sedated its source... Medicine's shrill laugh filled the room.

"It's just us, now, you fiend." Alice looked towards the voice and saw Medicine Melancholy... Still hooked up to her sedative... wait... the doll. Alice looked to the still carefully bound doll... then she stood, though every muscle in her body had told her she couldn't move. Her legs and arms moved of their own volition, towards the doll... now speaking.

"To think you'd leave yourself in such a state... there's no kitsune here to save you this time. You'll pay for your crimes... oh, how you'll pay..." The doll's face portrayed an eerie grin it was never designed for as Alice still moved towards it... then started untying it. Why... why was she doing this? She stopped...

Only to start up again. Now her body wouldn't listen to her at all, as it freed her worst nightmare from its bonds... The doll was untied... and Alice walked over to Medicine's other body, and gently removed the drip.

"Why, Alice, if I had to guess, I'd think you didn't -like- being controlled by me... with no way to resist..." The young girl now took over the doll's speech.

"How? How are you doing this?" Alice cried out in confusion and disbelief.

"Why in the world would you think an anaesthetic would keep me subdued?" Medicine Melancholy laughed lightly. "I've had a lot of experience feigning unconsciousness thanks to Eirin's experiments... speaking of, it seems she, your only hope, is gone to some abyss. So don't worry, you'll be with me until you've learned..."

"How..." Alice managed to get her body to jerk away from medicine as the young child's body hovered up to Alice's face and gently caressed it, causing pain to flare up almost immediately... not terrible pain... but Alice knew it was but a sample of what was to come.

"Yes... Eirin taught me a great many things. She taught me of the nature of humans... that they would use up anything that came their way, and discard it after use... she may even deserve a fate worse than yours... and it seems she's met that fate. More importantly... and to answer the question you keep asking..."

Medicine's hands slipped under Alice's clothes, sending a searing pain and inflammation wherever they touched... Alice felt her limited control over her body failing even more...

"She taught me a bit of physiology. You have no idea how many poisons there are in your body... Even the oxygen you breath can be considered such, it seems? Did you know that?" Alice felt her head shake back and forth in a negative response, though she hadn't told it to do so.

"No, I didn't think you would... though as I'm sure you could tell, the oxygen in your body is a rather crude, weak poison compared to mine... you even managed to resist it a bit... if you hadn't been so drained from saving Marisa, I'm not sure I'd have been able to control you... so before you recover, I think it best to remove the possibility of resistance..." As Medicine's poison touch spread, Alice felt further removed from her body... soon, her mental orders were falling on her body's deaf ears.

Alice cursed herself for letting her guard down, as Medicine carefully continued running her hands over Alice's skin, until Alice's entire body was covered in the poison, sending agony ripping through it, Medicine's firm control over the poison leaving Alice trapped within the shell Medicine controlled.

"Now, just a moment... I need to collect your friend as well." Medicine started hovering away from Alice as the puppeteer wondered who... and why.

"Ah, you see, while I have nothing in particular against the others here... this one..." Medicine had arrived at Patchouli. "She seems to make dolls as well... and I daresay her callous disregard for them rivals your own. She created one, only to destroy it moments later, its life unfulfilled..." Medicine looked misty eyed into the distance for a moment, then lunged out and grasped Patchouli's face as Alice was forced by her own unclosing eyes to watch.

Patchouli woke with a start, but between the obvious pain and her extreme lack of strength, Medicine had little trouble restraining her. Soon, Patchouli, too, was covered in blisters and sores, the tortured expression on her face mirroring Alice's own.

"What's the matter Alice? You don't like this?" Medicine asked in a childish, innocent tone

"Oh, no, Miss Medicine. I love not having any control over myself." Alice's own voice spoke, though it was croaky from terrible swelling and didn't carry her own thoughts. Alice's hand reached up and slapped herself across the face, sending a fountain of pain across it as she 'spoke' again: "This is great! Why, now I can appreciate the situation my dolls are in as I set them on fire and detonate them. Such strong beings, they are, never complaining as I send them to their deaths by the hundreds. I only wish I could be as strong as they."

"Well, Alice, I'll see what I can do!" Medicine chuckled. "And you'll even have Patchouli as a playmate over here. Don't worry, You'll get to know just what it's like to be a doll. In fact, we'll have our first bit of play ever so soon." Medicine grinned, and Alice found herself and Patchouli flying behind the doll and its body.

* * *

_**Scarlet Devil Mansion, front gate**_

Meiling was calmly going over the recent events in her head. She couldn't help but feel a bit of guilt over Reimu's position, but Ran had made it very clear that without a Hakurei Shrine Maiden, Gensokyo was in grave danger... Even if her mistress hadn't ordered her to assist the Kitsune, Meiling likely would have anyway.

Meiling sensed a few Qi bodies behind her... She turned, surprised, as she called out to them.

"Going for a walk, you two?" She hailed Alice and Patchouli... She could tell they were having some bad reactions to something... their Qi was unstable and wild, though still recognizably theirs. She noticed the easily resting Qi of Medicine Melancholy, being carried by Alice. Both Alice and Patchouli were covered head to toe in cloth, only their eyes visible behind them.

Alice's muffled, nearly strangled sounding voice, hard to make out, came through her face cloth. "Yeah. We think we figured out a way to use Medicine here to create the antidote we need." Patchouli coughed and added:

"Alice has some magic circles set up at her place that should be able to destroy any poison Medicine Melancholy has made. It requires two to fully use them, or I'd let her go alone."

"Well, you did recover awfully fast, Alice." Meiling commented carefully... her suspicions were raised... Both Alice and Patchouli's Qi were pulsing wildly... typical tells of a lie... Meiling had plenty of experience with Marisa. They were saying something they didn't believe... it was as simple as that... Meiling continued confronting them...

"Why are your bodies both covered so, then?"

"We're carrying a being literally -made- of poison. No way we're letting this thing touch us, even by accident." Meiling wasn't buying it.

"Quit the lies, Alice." Meiling answered, and was caught completely by surprise, Alice's aura giving no tell at all, as a doll was launched at the guard's face by the witch. She reacted instinctively and blocked it, but she hadn't realized it was wielding a blade, and the pain and surprise distracted her long enough for Patchouli to chant a spell as the doll returned to Alice.

"Royal flare!" Meiling reacted exactly wrong as Patchouli had started speaking, turning towards the sound and was temporarily blinded as the light engulfed her.

Meiling staggered, but as the trio of aura's flew away, she started to pursue, seeing only with her inner eye... which, as she painfully found out, couldn't detect objects.

She felt her face and shoulders slashed by dozens of tiny blades... Alice and Patchouli continued to fly away with Medicine, and Meiling, dizzy from a loss of blood, had to retreat. Why? Why had Alice and Patchouli stolen Medicine Melancholy? Meiling's mind reeled as she returned, broken and defeated, to the Scarlet Devil Mansion, and began sealing her wounds with careful Qi manipulation, borrowing small amounts from the plants growing in the outer garden and the fairies tending them to restore herself rapidly... She sent a fairy messenger off to her mistress to inform her of her failure, and braced herself for the inevitable punishment.

* * *

_**The Human Village**_

Udonge checked her supplies... yeah... that was the last of it. She should be able to keep Medicine sedated and help the others recover... and with the dream-poison gone, according to Satori, she could finally start treating the more typical afflictions Eirin and the others were suffering from. Clearly they weren't normal or they'd have already run their course, but she had some ideas of how to deal with them, regardless.

She stood and started to set off towards the Scarlet Devil Mansion, but almost immediately she stopped, nearly running into someone. She wore a blue dress, and her long green hair flowed from under her blue, star-covered wizard's hat. Most curiously, much like Tojiko, she lacked legs, though unlike Tojiko, she had but a single ghost tail. She spoke in a calm, soothing voice.

"Pardon me... could you perhaps answer a question?"

"Oh... Sure, I suppose. What is it?" Udonge asked... She was in a hurry, but a simple question she could probably answer.

"I was wondering where I might find this 'Remilia Scarlet' that's backing this bounty I keep hearing about?"

"She lives at the Scarlet Devil Mansion... I'm on my way there, but I wouldn't recommend going... Or... um... or pursuing that bounty. She lives up to her name as a devil, you know?"

"Oh, I think it'll be fine. I just think it would be a good idea to meet her. I'm not really interested in the bounty or the money. Ghost and all that." The ghost indicated her lack of legs.

"That's good to hear... I mean, if you really want, I can take you there... I'm just about to go there, myself, but I'll need to leave you soon afterward... there are some patients I need to treat and some equipment to get, you see."

"Thank you! Shall we get going then?"

"Sure, but... um... who are you?"

"Oh, pardon my manners. I go by Mima. Pleasure to meet you... sorry, but I didn't catch your name either."

"Call me Udonge, then. I'll be honest, I feel a little more comfortable having some company." Udonge felt relieved, the ghost's presence comforting her.

* * *

_**Scarlet Devil Mansion, Front Gate, a few hours later.**_

The gate guard's punishment had been severe... Ran had intervened to make it so... she had been furious. Even so, Meiling continued to endure, and was even now giving no signs of fatigue or pain, though she ached terribly.

Meiling sensed a pair approaching, though she wasn't sure what to make of them. One was Udonge, but her aura suggested she was daydreaming or something of the sort, and the other... was... empty. Some sort of poltergeist or spirit, then? Meiling saw her guess proved correct when the legless spirit and Udonge approached further.

"Hello Meiling!" Udonge called out as she approached. Meiling returned the wave and let the two approach.

"How is everyone? Anyone's condition changed?" Udonge asked, and Meiling's expression suddenly hardened.

"Things -have- changed. Those who were poisoned remain so, their condition unchanged." Meiling started, Udonge nodding, unsurprised. "But Alice and Patchouli have stolen away Medicine Melancholy, and Marisa... well. Perhaps you'd best speak with her... at the Hakurei Shrine." Udonge was stunned... Why would they kidnap Medicine... and how had Marisa gotten to the shrine? She would never survive such a trip.

"What about Youmu?"

"She's still a bit drained from helping Marisa, but otherwise fine. She's doing her best to watch over the others, but I'm glad you're back... I'm not sure she'd be able to keep going much longer without some rest." Mima quietly watched and waited as Meiling explained... Meiling finally turned her attention to the spirit.

"And who are you, anyway?"

"I am Mima, a recently awakened spirit. I wish to speak with the mistress of this manor... I hear she's the one who put out this bounty?"

"Yes, she is... I take it you have some information to lead to Satori's capture?"

"Actually, I was just wondering why such a large bounty would be placed on her... and whether it could actually be paid." Meiling glowered at Mima, who continued.

"Now, now, no need to be upset. Mere curiosity drives the questions into my mind." Mima said in a calm tone, soothing Meiling's anger.

"Alright... I'll see if she wishes to speak with you." Meiling turned to a nearby fairy and, after soothing its aura, sent it off to deliver the message.

"In the meantime, you'll have to wait here. Udonge, you're welcome to go in, of course. The remaining patients are still in the Guest Wing." Udonge nodded and went in, waving goodbye to Mima.

"I hope you get your questions answered... but... please... don't go after the bounty."

* * *

_**Scarlet Devil Mansion, Guest Wing**_

"She's -what-?"

"Dead, alive, and the new Hakurei shrine maiden." Youmu said.

"Dead... -and- alive?" Udonge repeated, her head swimming. Youmu simply nodded, not seeming to have any better idea of what it really meant.

"She's somehow in the Netherworld, -and- at the Hakurei Shrine. We did that energy transfer Satori had suggested... I already told you this part..."

"Right, but you didn't tell me how she ended up like she is now." Youmu shrugged helplessly in response.

"I don't know! Something went wrong, I guess. All I can really remember is that now Marisa's got a bad headache from suddenly having a second body, and she's the new Hakurei Shrine maiden."

"Well... I... suppose that means the barrier's safe, now, at least?" Udonge still couldn't believe it.. Yukari had just... replaced Reimu? Youmu nodded solemnly.

"If you get a chance, you should pay your respects to Reimu. I'd go back myself, but I'm needed here, so the Prismriver Sisters will have to deliver the message for me... for all of us."

"I can help you for a while so you can get some rest, but I need to return to Eirin's side, soon."

"Eirin's alright?" Youmu exclaimed, her eyes widening with a newfound hope. Udonge looked at her, a bit confused.

"Well... yes. We were going to return her, but there was some sort of barrier in place?"

"That was you? We thought... we thought they were going after the others from the moon... Well... whoever 'they' were, that is."

Udonge shook her head. "We just needed to take her someplace quiet. I... Well, once she's fixed, we'll have some time to cure the others as well. I just needed to get some equipment and deliver a few messages and supplies. Oh!" Udonge suddenly remembered...

"What is it?"

"I do have a message for Reimu, actually... but you said Marisa is here and there, right... so, she could deliver the message faster, maybe? It's important that it's received as quickly as possible."

"Well... that might work. Like I said, Marisa isn't really used to having another body yet."

"I hope she'll be alright... no, I know she will. Nothing keeps that girl down. What was this about Alice and Patchouli taking Medicine, though? I don't like having her out of our sight..."

Youmu's confusion was clear... "I don't know! We were all just resting after the energy donation... Patchouli was tending people so I fell asleep. When I woke up, the three were gone... Sakuya came by to inform us of what had happened. They know what's at stake! Everyone else is convinced they're working for the demons now."

"Please tell me you're kidding." Udonge pleaded, Youmu continued, still unsure.

"I'm not... but they have a good point... Just vanishing without consulting anyone... Ran was furious... she sealed that pet demon of Patchouli's away until this gets sorted out, but... well... why else would they take her?"

"Maybe they... just... had an idea how to remove the poison using her?"

"Meiling said they claimed something like that, but she seemed pretty confident they were lying."

"She can be wrong, you know! Especially if this is so soon after channeling all that energy you mentioned... maybe that muddled her a bit! They must know what they're doing. They -must- have had a reason." Udonge's affirmations rang hollow in her ears, though... why couldn't they have done whatever they needed to here, with willing and able aides?

"Maybe... Remilia sent Sakuya after them, so one way or another, it should be resolved soon, as long as Medicine doesn't wake up. I... Just hope Remilia and Ran won't be too hard on them." Udonge nodded as Youmu continued.

"Could you take a look at the others?" Youmu inquired, but Udonge's reply wasn't what Youmu was expecting.

"You're out of your room? Are you alright?" Udonge was looking past Youmu, at a calm Mokou, slouching with her hands in her pockets.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Kaguya might be in a bit more pain, though. Finally managed to get that poison to stick to her instead of my reincarnating body. Took some doing, but I'm finally able to help, now. Hope you don't mind my eavesdropping."

Udonge rushed to Kaguya's body, but it seemed her condition hadn't worsened much... her breathing was a little heavier, but still not nearly as bad as Chen's condition.

"Yeah, She's fine. Besides, what's the worst that happens, she dies?" Mokou laughed from behind Udonge...

"Good point, but that doesn't help Chen out..." Udonge indicated the Nekomata, whose breathing had stopped for a few moments, before resuming again, more labored than ever. Udonge turned all of her attention to her patient. She used some of the supplies she had bought at the village to secure Chen's head in a position to open her airway, along with a few muscle relaxants to prevent her muscle spasms from forcing it shut, while keeping her . Within a few minutes, Chen's breathing had stabilized, as Youmu and Mokou looked on, awestruck.

"How did you... do that?"

Udonge stopped herself from launching into a long explanation... she thought of how to explain it. She wasn't sure where to start, though... opening the airway? Securing it? The drugs she had used? Why she had used them? Udonge got a strange feeling... normally she was the one who was explained to... is this what her master had gone through every time Udonge had asked a question? What of Satori, for that matter? Udonge found herself uttering the same words she had heard so many times...

"Nevermind, it's not important. She's stable, now." Udonge sighed. She wished she could do more to treat them... but Eirin was the top priority. Besides, once her master was well, she could treat them as well... far better than Udonge herself could. Yes, the best thing she could do for them was return to Eirin's side and help her recovery. She turned to Youmu and Mokou.

"You two should be able to tend the others well enough. Keine's nearly healed, I take it?"

"Yeah. Says she'll probably be able to be up and about early tomorrow. Says she's gotta get back to the village... otherwise her students'll get outta hand. Sleepin' right now, though." Udonge nodded in response to Mokou's assessment.

"When she awakens, please, tell her I'm very thankful for her help, and that her help would be appreciated if she can find the time to come back and help tend the poisoned. I'm going away again to work on Eirin, now... I just had to gather some equipment and deliver a few messages... speaking of, Remilia's awake, I take it?"

Youmu nodded in response. "She's sitting in her grand hall as usual. Just be careful, Udonge... I understand you're as critical to Eirin's recovery as..." Youmu looked around nervously. "You know... Satori." The half phantom's voice was nearly a whisper.

"Thanks, Youmu." Udonge turned and waved before her doubts could overwhelm her. Satori had said to do this... assured her it was necessary, even. She hurried towards the grand hall.

* * *

_**Scarlet Devil Mansion, Grand Hall**_

"Well, if it isn't the useless bunny. Just can't get enough of my illustrious self, can you? Or maybe you simply enjoy the treatment you receive at my hands?" Remilia's mocking tone carried down from her almost comically large chair, on stairs above the rest of the hall.

Udonge let out an involuntary shudder. "Actually... I had a thought... that might save you money."

"Oh? I suppose you want me to remove the bounty? I don't think so, no. Satori's already demonstrated to me that she's in league with the demons... as has Alice, one of her co-conspirators if Ran's word is worth anything... and it is. Indeed..." Remilia's gaze seemed to root Udonge to the spot, despite the hundred feet between them. "I wouldn't be surprised if her other co-conspirators were in league with them as well? So why don't you tell me where you're sequestering away your master so she can't hide us from the demons, hm?"

Udonge shivered as Remilia swooped in front of Udonge in a flash, hovering ominously to conceal her underwhelming height. The shadows cast by her wings seemed almost alive, and spread out on the wall behind her... Udonge gulped.

"I just... thought..." Udonge started... she wasn't sure she could do this... Even if Satori had told her to... she steeled herself and spoke in a rapid rush, closing her eyes and hoping Remilia didn't run her through in the middle of her sentence.

"I just thought mere death was too good for her, and you should fate her to meet the most powerful demon and your sister right after, so that she suffers terribly before being wiped from existence forever. And she wouldn't be able to beat your sister again because the demon would have broken her."

A few moments passed...

Udonge heard Remilia's laughter, and opened her eyes, only to receive a body blow that sent her flying across the room to tumble and skid a few dozen feet along the ground.

"You know, you really do make a good toy. Perhaps Flandre would like to play with you... you see, her last toy disappointed her greatly." Udonge was winded from the single blow, though through a small miracle or Remilia's control, she hadn't suffered any serious injuries. She struggled to get on to her knees at least, hearing Remilia's steady wingbeats bringing her closer.

"And speaking of her, where -is- Satori?" Remilia demanded, now up to Udonge, who had just managed to get to a kneeling position.

"I... I don't know." Udonge lied...

"Oh, and I suppose -everyone- knows about my theory about my sister's power... that Satori defeated my sister before... that only a vague fate change like that would be reliable?" Remilia grasped Udonge's head between her two hands, now sporting terrible claws, and turned the lunar rabbit's gaze into her own, catching her eyes. Udonge couldn't even fathom looking away... she tried to speak, but no words came out.

"Tell. Me. Where. Satori. Is." Remilia punctuated every word, with an increased pressure on Udonge's head, the threat clear. Udonge shivered and didn't even move to resist... doing so would only upset the vampire further... and doing -that- would lead to a crushed head, no doubt.

"Okay, okay! I'll tell you!" Udonge pleaded, just wanting to be free from Remilia's grasp... Instead the grasp tightened more...

"Then -tell me-!"

"Senkai! She's in Senkai!" Udonge shouted out... maybe Remilia wouldn't know how to get there... it was her only hope. Remilia's grasp remained as strong as before, though as she asked another question that made Udonge's heart sink with dread.

"How do I get there?"

"She didn't tell me!"

"How were -you- going to get back there?"

Udonge hesistated... and Remilia forced Udonge's head to the ground, positioning her taloned fingers beside Udonge's eyes, still keeping the crushing grip. Remilia gazed deep into Udonge's eyes, compelling her to speak the truth. Udonge quickly recognized the hypnosis and broke it... but Remilia still had her pinned, and the pressure on Udonge's head was nearly too much, Remilia's crushing hands on either side... Udonge realized there was only one way to save Gensokyo.

"I... I won't tell you." Reisen Udonge Inaba declared... her skull ready to break. Now... she just had to save herself, too... She hoped her plan worked.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Remilia's hands clapped together, punctuating her statement. Udonge was engulfed by darkness and silence, the pressure on her head finally relieved.

* * *

Remilia looked at her hands... There was a lot less blood then she was expecting. Udonge's body was nowhere to be seen, in fact. The vampire scoured the room, using her heightened magical and physical senses to their fullest... but there was nothing, no one. Either Remilia had completely annihilated her, or Udonge had gotten away, somehow. As much as she wanted to believe the former, she was finding things hadn't been going her way lately... She growled and returned to her chair to mull over what she had learned...

"Senkai... Blast it! I've never even heard of the place!" Patchouli would know, Remilia was certain, but it seemed the vampire would have to wait for Patchouli to escape Alice and return. Remilia had confidence her friend hadn't joined the demons, at least, but Ran had been convinced that Patchouli had, and had taken Koakuma into custody as a precaution. Remilia suspected Patchouli had simply been abducted, and had sent Sakuya out to lend her aid and bring Alice to justice.

At least that Mima character had been willing to help. Perhaps she knew something of Senkai, or at least someone who did.

Satori's suggestion worried Remilia as well. What on earth would Satori have to gain from meeting the demons, then Flandre? Perhaps she was hoping to kill the demon and claim its position for herself? No... She probably wished to join the demons and remove Flandre as a threat. Remilia grinned. It might take some more time and a great deal more effort, but she could alter Satori's fate further than the despicable youkai had suggested... Satori would get what she wanted and more. Remilia started her divinations...

Satori would meet the Goddess of Makai as she wished. And such a meeting would be the death of the accursed satori.

* * *

_**Author's notes**_

_So, Medicine Melancholy... I can't even count the times I typed her name as "Poison" instead. Anyway, there was disappointingly little Satori in this one. I realized I have more dangling plot threads than I thought, and the Marisa outcome was important to get out there, for a number of reasons. I hope it came out alright... it was certainly fun to write. On a related note, I've deleted the poll rather than merely closing it to prevent spoilers for those who've not yet read this far. Thanks to all who voted (It gave me some much needed direction), and if you want to know the exact results, let me know via PM or something, but I think they can be figured out from what happened.  
_

_That Remi. I had actually planned for her to go with Udonge's suggestion. Then she caught on, instead. Sometimes things don't go as planned, I suppose.  
_

_Thanks for everyone who's read this far, and I hope you continue to do so.  
_


	14. Chapter 14

_**?**_

Well... she could still feel fear. That was a start. She could still worry, too... the countless doubts that nagged at her mind were enough to tell her that. Could she undo what she had done? Would she be safe if she did? She doubted that last point, but at this point death didn't seem so bad, if being trapped... wherever this was... was the alternative.

She was blind, deaf... almost entirely senseless. Only the pounding of her heart, the blood rushing through her body, her stomach churning her latest meal remained... She was all that she was sure existed. She hoped... hoped as hard as she could, that she -could- undo it... that she hadn't destroyed everything. She searched for something... anything outside of her to grab on to.

Her clothes... She felt them brushing against her... Her clothes weren't her. They were cloth... Then... maybe the rest was still there, somewhere. Now more sure that there was something out there, she reached out... but touched nothing. She thought about exactly what she had done.

Eyes... she had used her power... her master had affirmed that energy and matter were connected... Had she turned herself into energy? No... her heart wouldn't beat so, were that the case. Had she simply... used her power on herself? This seemed right... but what had she done with it? Knowing she had to try and be somewhere different, she chose a direction (hoping "up" was still the same) and flew... flight proved unusually easy, but flying blind made her nervous...

After but a few more moments, she realized there was another problem. While wherever she was had no lack of air... it also had no air. The demands of her lungs were becoming harder and harder to ignore. No matter how hard she breathed, nothing came in, and nothing went out. Panic began to fill her mind. She hoped she had flown far enough, because she was running out of time.

She tried to bring herself back... undo whatever it was she had done. She focused her mind on herself, urged herself to return to the normal world.

Nothing happened. Her panicked, futile gasps increased... her heart's pounding now almost deafening. She began to see spots; the only sensation her eyes had detected, and she recognized all the signs of suffocation. She focused on the spots as much as she could... the only visual input she was receiving, and tried using her eyes once more... turning their power on herself... using the spots, artifacts made by her own eyes, as a representation... She shifted herself...

She quickly noticed three things. First was that she was very cold. Second was that she was very wet. Third was that it wasn't air she had just gasped in... it was water.

She kept gasping for air... even as, with her last bits of consciousness, she swam in the direction she hoped was up. It was lighter there, at least. Come to thing of it, everything was a bit lighter now, wasn't it? She saw her arms as they climbed, but soon... too soon... her consciousness cut out.

* * *

_**The Shore of the Misty Lake**_

"I don't know, Cirno. I... I think she's dead. Or dying. She looks really cold." A green haired fairy with dragonfly wings was telling her neighbor. She hovered over a rabbit youkai they had just fished out of the lake. Her skin was blue, and she felt cold, even without touching her. It was a particularly cold night, and the water had largely frozen her.

"Don't be so stupid, stupid. She's just trying to get me to lower my guard." Cirno was far from convinced.

"Look, not -everyone- is trying to kill you! I mean... not anymore. No one's done it more than once, anyway."

The ice fairy muttered in response. "Yeah, and she hasn't, yet. Doesn't mean she won't. Well, try, anyway... I'm not that easy to kill."

"Come -on-, Cirno! She got in the lake without coming through the mist, and I wanna know -how-!"

"Then you'll just have to help her yourself!

The green haired fairy had one more card to play, though. "She must have come through a passage or something in the lake... it's probably a hideaway for her treasure!" Cirno's eyes lit up.

"Ooooooh!" Cirno's eyes all but reflected the vast hordes she was imagining. "Okay. How do we fix her, then, Dai?" The green haired fairy looked confused, but then remembered that Cirno had started calling her 'Daiyousei'... eventually shortening it to just 'Dai'. Having any sort of name at all was still new and exciting.

"We just..." Daiyousei thought hard... "Ummm... Wake... her up?"

"No duh! How, though?" Cirno gave the youkai an experimental kick to the ribs. Nope. That wasn't it.

"Oh! Maybe the others know!"

"Didn't they freeze to death, though? I thought we were trying to wake her up. And I don't think she'll be fine if she freezes to death. I think that might kill her." Cirno wasn't terribly sure. She remembered someone saying something about death working differently for fairies.

"Oh... wait, no, not those ones. Your youkai friends! You know, with the darkness and the bugs and the darkness!"

"Oh yeah! They've always got great ideas!" Cirno looked up for a splotch of dark floating around, but saw only the night sky. "Uh... Well, I think I know where Mystia usually sets up her cart. We usually all meet up over there or here." Cirno looked around.

"Well, let's go, then." Daiyousei lifted the rabbit youkai up, gathering her in a cloud of mist and trailing it behind her as she flew along, Cirno quickly taking the lead... though after some time, Daiyousei was getting worried. The night was awfully dark, and she was unfamiliar with the area... This may well have been the first time she left the lake, and they'd been flying for quite a bit of time.

Was it really the first time? She thought hard... No... maybe she'd left once or twice before. Her confused thoughts were swiftly interrupted as she slammed into a light, small, cold body.

"Hey! What's the big idea, Dai!"

"Huh? Why'd you stop?"

"We're here, idiot." Cirno pointed down and rapidly descended, Daiyousei right behind, rubbing her sore nose.

* * *

_**Mystia's Stand**_

Mystia had just been considering packing up for the night as Cirno came down, along with another fairy, and much to Mystia's surprise, a throughly defeated and frozen rabbit youkai.

"What did you do to her?" The night sparrow couldn't help but ask.

"Just brought her here. She washed up on the shore of the lake after leaving a secret passage full of treasure. Wake her up so we can have her tell us where it is so we can go get it!" Cirno's excitement rushed her speech. Mystia just stared for a bit, eventually piecing together enough of what Cirno had said.

"Well... I guess... she needs some heat?" Mystia wasn't exactly familiar with medicine, but even she knew to heat up someone suffering from the cold like that... she'd been around Cirno long enough. More than a few times, the ice fairy had gone overboard and frozen Wriggle or Rumia or Mystia during one of her pranks. Mystia used some coal to start a small fire nearby and started warming the rabbit carefully, trying not to burn her.

"Come on! Hurry up!" Cirno was extremely impatient, but Daiyousei was clearly relieved, showing far more interest in the rabbit youkai.

"I'm going as fast as I can. This is going to take some time, you know. Not even sure if she -will- wake up." Mystia began whistling a vigorous tune while she worked. The night was wearing on, so she hadn't really been expecting anymore customers anyway. Might as well see whatever this secret passage they were talking about was. Rather than simply watch Cirno's eager gaze, she decided to start up some more conversation.

"I haven't seen you a lot lately. Trying to freeze the lake again?"

"Hehe. No, she keeps getting killed a whole lot." Daiyousei giggled.

"You need another reminder about just who owns that lake?" Cirno punched one hand with her other, and Mystia chuckled...

"I suppose that'd be the vampire, wouldn't it?" Mystia watched as her comment caused Cirno to visibly deflate.

"N... No... It's me! She doesn't want it, so it's mine. She... doesn't want it, right? That hasn't changed?"

"Haven't heard anything of the sort, so you're fine for now, I suppose." Even now, Mystia was amazed as Cirno's face showed obvious relief. Cirno was still a fairy, but she was unusual... one of the few that feared death or pain at all. Most fairies wouldn't think twice about offending a vampire, but Cirno... she knew that doing so would invite bad things. The realization that actions have consequences that aren't always immediate set Cirno apart from most fairies.

"Why do you keep getting killed though? Keep running into Marisa?" Mystia was tending the heat... The rabbit had thawed, but was still cold to the touch.

"No... It seems like everyone's out to get me, now."

"Well, at least miss three-eyes kept her side of the promise." Daiyousei commented, trying to cheer Cirno up.

"Sure, everyone knows who I am, now, I suppose."

"Wait, you actually -did- beat Satori?" Mystia had seen the posters, of course. It was impossible to avoid them. She hadn't been terribly interested, of course; she had more money than she knew what to do with already from her stand. She had thought the claim that Cirno had beaten Satori to be a lie on Remilia's part.

"Yeah. Thwacked her good!" Cirno's mood rose visibly, reminded of her accomplishment.

"I suppose that's why everyone's after you. I mean, if they can beat you, they should be able to beat her, right?" It seemed clear enough to Mystia... if she had wanted the bounty and Cirno weren't so amusing to stay on good terms with, she'd have done much the same. The look of dawning realization on Cirno's face and blank, confused look on Daiyousei's face reminded Mystia that fairies weren't quite at that level of thought.

Cirno groaned. "Geez... I hope she gets caught soon, then. I'm getting sick of all these interruptions."

"With that much money at stake? Someone will get her soon... or at least, they'll stop trying to collect." Cirno didn't seem comforted, and quieted down as she either entered deep thought or spaced out... Mystia wasn't sure. Daiyousei was still watching Udonge warm up... Mystia cleaned up what she needed to and kept tending the flames, whistling a merry tune. While Cirno might not be pleased with the bounty, Mystia was getting quite a bit of business from youkai and humans alike who wanted a break from their suddenly busier lives. The sun rose over the youkai and fairies, though none truly noticed, captivated by the song and the rabbit youkai.

* * *

Udonge looked up at Remilia Scarlet, silhouetted by the early rays of the sun. She hadn't gotten far enough away after all... The gate guard must have grabbed her from the lake... there was no way she'd made it to the Moriya Shrine in that time. Meiling probably brought her back, and now she was going to die for having opposed the vampire. The looming winged figure stretched its wings, clearly in no hurry, checking its wickedly long claws as it whistled innocently... then it looked to Udonge.

"Oh! You finally woke up!" Udonge was confused... That wasn't Remilia's voice. Actually, come to think of it, Remilia couldn't be out here... not if the sun was up. It wasn't nearly shaded enough among these trees.

"Where... am I?"

"Mystia Lorelei's Grilled Eel Stand!" The youkai beamed proudly as Udonge sat up, another voice interrupting her thoughts.

"I keep telling you you need a better name for it, Mystia!" Udonge turned and recognized the ice fairy as Mystia responded.

"It's a perfect name, so you keep quiet."

"Sorry... but... I really am in a rush, and need to go." Udonge muttered, staggering to her feet.

"Whoa, watch it. You only just woke up. You should probably warm up a bit more before going back out. Besides, Cirno had some questions for you."

"Oh yeah! Where's the secret passage you used to get into the lake from below?" Cirno's enthusiastic question baffled Udonge. Where -had- she been. She knew now what she had done... put herself out of phase with the rest of the world. She wasn't particularly eager to do it again, and certainly not without a very good cause. How to explain that to a fairy, though?

"I... uh... kind of... went... through the ground, probably?"

"Of course you did. That's what a tunnel is, silly."

"No, not a tunnel. A..." Udonge simply didn't have the knowledge to answer Cirno's question, and she doubted anyone could make a fairy understand in any case. "I used magic to teleport into the lake. I just... appeared there." Close enough.

Cirno and her companion, a quiet green haired fairy, both looked disappointed at this revelation. "Well, phooey. Back home then. Thanks Mystia. This is the last time I let you pick what we do, Dai." The night bird nodded in reply and resumed her whistling. Udonge sat awkwardly, her head clearing and her body slowly recovering. Mystia nodded off soon, and Udonge quietly left shortly afterwards, writing a quick thank you before flying away towards the Hakurei Shrine.

* * *

_**Hakurei Shrine**_

Not sure what to expect, Udonge landed some ways away and walked up to the shrine. It didn't seem... quite as deserted as Satori had expected. She reached the shrine and peered inside to see Marisa, as expected. She was doing her best to ignore the blue haired celestial lying on the ground and the oni resting beside her.

"Um... Marisa... can we talk?" Udonge quietly asked.

"Reisen? I haven't seen you for a while... What is it...?" Marisa turned to Udonge, revealing an eyepatch over her right eye. Udonge recoiled at the look.

"What happened to your eye?" Marisa held up a finger and turned, appearing to be listening to something else before she spoke, her visible eye closed, whatever she had been listening to. Udonge, turning to face them.

"Yeah. I don't know... she might be?" Marisa opened her eye and trained it back on Udonge, moving her quieting finger towards whatever she had been speaking with earlier. "You know who Yorihime is?"

"What... what? I... I do, yes. She was my master once, long ago... why?" Udonge replied, curious at the change of topic.

"She says 'hi.' Also, she's wondering how her sister is doing? It seems she hasn't died yet?"

Udonge remembered what Youmu had told her... she remembered that the moon was lost... that Yorihime was dead. Tears crept out of her eyes as she replied.

"Toyohime is... still suffering from Medicine's poison... so is the other Reisen she adopted. It's really bad stuff. I... I'll help fix them, but I need to treat master first... Eirin needs to hide the world from the moon again..."

Marisa turned back, closed her eye, and held her finger towards Udonge now, who remained patiently quiet while Marisa spoke. "She's still suffering from Medicine's poison. Reisen says she'll help fix her but Eirin's gotta do the moon-hiding thing first, so she's getting treated first. Once Eirin's fixed up, treating the others should be easier, anyway, I think." Marisa paused and stood facing where she had, her quieting finger still outstretched towards Udonge.

After a few moments, she turned back to Udonge, now hushing whoever she had been listening to earlier... Yorihime, Udonge presumed.

"She agrees with you... If anyone knows how to stop the demons, it'd be Eirin. She'd like to speak with Toyohime as well, when she's recovered. Now, you had something to ask me?" Marisa lowered her hand.

"Oh, right. I just had a message to have delivered to Reimu... I heard you're in the netherworld with her, somehow?"

Marisa nodded, closed her eye, and turned to look at an empty spot on the floor. "Yeah. She still hasn't woken up, though." Marisa returned her gaze to Udonge, a tear forming in her reopened eye.

"What... happened to her?" Udonge asked, and Marisa's energy swelled... Udonge may not be terribly attuned to magic, but she was sensitive enough to be overwhelmed. Before she knew what was happening, she was on the ground, scooting backwards in terror. The air around Marisa seemed to shimmer, then nearly to burn around her. The oni stirred slightly in her slumber. The wood around Marisa creaked, and she started to hover off the ground a bit... She turned her head back towards Yorihime's position, and something defused her. The frightening presence fell and Marisa took a few deep breaths before finally answering Udonge's question through gritted teeth.

"Ran betrayed her... Yukari betrayed her... and me. They just foisted her job onto me, without asking either of us. Now it's my job to maintain the shrine and stuff, and Reimu... What's left of her anyway... is just lying there. Breathing, sure, but so what? Who knows if she'll ever wake up? And now everyone's saying Alice ran off to join the demons, Medicine's on the loose again, and the person I risked put myself in such a bad shape for has a bounty the size of Youkai Mountain on her?" Marisa kept ranting, letting loose a frustrated roar. She turned to where Yorihime had been and shouted.

"I -am- calm!"

"I... don't... think you are...?" Udonge had her back against the wall, having used it to stand again, but was eyeing the door. Marisa turned and glared at her with the open eye for several seconds. Udonge's terror must have been evident, because after a short while, Marisa blinked and ceased glaring.

"I'm sorry, Reisen-"

"Uhm... mind calling me Udonge? I've kind of gotten used to it now?"

"Udonge, fine. Sorry about that... I just needed to vent. Now, what was this message? I'll.. pass it on if she ever wakes up."

"Just... to have her start practicing summoning and binding gods. I mean, she might be able to bind the demon leader, right? Isn't she a goddess?"

"Well, I guess that might work. She's certainly bound gods before..." Marisa closed her eye and turned to Yorihime... listened. Responded.

"But it sounds like it should work. Once she was bound-" Marisa stopped suddenly, and resumed listening, before turning back to Udonge, eye open once again.

"She's saying that it's a really bad idea, but she'll train Reimu anyway. It'll give them both something to do, at least."

Udonge looked relieved. "That's good to hear. Thank you, Marisa. Now... do you mind... if I just... kinda wait here for a bit? I'm getting... picked up? Sometime tonight.

Marisa tilted her head curiously, but shrugged, looking back over to the oni and Celestial. "I'd invite you all to do something, but I think Tenshi's still out cold, and Suika's sleeping, herself. There's a futon over in the corner if you want to join them." Marisa gestured, and Udonge realized she could use some proper sleep... unconsciousness was no replacement. She lay down, and her weary body almost immediately fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

_**Hakurei Shrine, Hours Later**_

Satori looked around as she stepped out of the crack. The shrine wasn't nearly as deserted as she had thought or hoped, but at least the hour was late enough that all present were asleep or unconscious. Marisa's presence wouldn't be so confusing if not for the shrine maiden outfit she wore, with an eyepatch within easy reach. Doubtless there was a story behind that.

Relief reached her as she saw Udonge lying calmly in another corner... It seemed she delivered the needed messages and had made it on time for collection. Satori paid the blue haired girl little mind, but as Satori's eyes fell upon the oni... the first she'd seen in weeks, she felt a combination of confusion, fear, and anger. What was an oni doing up here? Would she kill Satori? As the other oni had killed satori? What's more, that oni specifically looked... familiar. Calming herself as best she could, she pushed Udonge through the gate. The rabbit looked like she'd had a bit of a rough time, but Satori could find out what had happened to her later. Right now, it seemed Marisa was finally alright, and Satori had some questions about Makai to ask her.

Satori moved up to Marisa and used a basic spell to gently lift her. Satori thought she was being gentle enough, but Marisa startled awake, extremely confused and nauseous. It seemed the last fragments of her dream of some other place were still with her, as she seemed to look around in confusion, and her view darted around the imaginary landscape and the shrine equally.

Satori was overwhelmed by the nausea, and released the spell as she clutched her stomach. What was going on? Some sort of ward to awaken Marisa? Marisa groaned, her eyes drifting a while before finally finding Satori.

"What are you doing here... Uh... hold on..." _Which here is she in? Did she just die or something?_ Marisa fumbled for her eyepatch, and put it over her right eye... then fumbled for another eyepatch and put it over her left eye. She closed her left eye, and the other scene she was seeing faded, taking with it much of the nausea that had been climbing as she donned the eyepatches.

"What... what's wrong with you?" Satori asked, recovering as Marisa did... though Marisa's mind remained a bit muddled, having been suddenly awakened. Her personality wasn't much changed, but her viewpoint certainly was.

"Nothin'... just a little... Uh..." _Still not used to this... disoriented? Ugh. Does she even know what hour it is?_

"Ought to be about midnight, unless I'm mistaken. I had expected the shrine to be empty, what with Reimu-" Satori started, but halted suddenly as Marisa's mind flared up in rage. Even in her sleep-muddled state, Marisa had no difficulty recalling what had happened to Reimu. Memories flooded her mind... Marisa's awakening in the Scarlet Devil Mansion, Ran's betrayal of Reimu, Marisa's awakening in the Hakurei Shrine, Ran informing her that she was the new shrine maiden... Remembering what it had felt like as Meiling drained Reimu into Marisa... her helplessness as she had watched her best friend withering away in her arms. All of this burned with intense emotion, and Satori was completely overwhelmed in Marisa's presence, stronger than ever before.

Satori felt every bit as betrayed as Marisa did, every bit as angry. Every bit as powerful as Marisa, confident she could defeat even Yuuka in a magical or physical match... and every bit as impotent, unable to even dress herself without her stomach jumping somersaults. Satori staggered and lost her balance... She slammed into the ground hard, and felt her stomach churning.

"Marisa... please... please calm... down. Calm down..." Satori begged through her tears.

"I... am... calm..." Marisa declared through gritted teeth... quite possibly her least believable lie to date. "You know, I heard it was you who suggested the technique they used against Reimu... and me..." Marisa flew slowly towards Satori, and grabbed her roughly, having little trouble lifting the small youkai with a single arm... well, little trouble in the way of strength, anyway. Her head spun at the confusing input again, causing Satori's to do the same. Marisa swung with her other fist, but was too disoriented and sickened to connect, instead just throwing herself off balance. She tumbled back to the ground, dragging Satori with her before letting her go and focusing on trying to keep her gut under control.

The she noticed Satori trying to do the same thing... with far less success, if the foul, sharp smell and liquid oozing from Satori's mouth were any indication. Marisa closed both her eyes, and lay very, very still for a while, trying not to move at all, hardly breathing as she regained her calm. _Ugh. Now __there's even more for me to clean up... why can't I just get used to this?_

"I'll... clean it." Satori's voice weakly declared. "It's my fault, after all." She staggered, still, but the overwhelming emotions and sickness had faded as Marisa had calmed and stopped moving, allowing her to, with some effort, clean up the mess she had made using some minor magic. Marisa didn't even nod in reply.

"And... I'm sorry about what's happened... I didn't know how it might effect you... only that it would. And I had no idea what Ran planned to do... she had no such thoughts when we last met."

"Ran... told me I'd get used to this..." _This split perception... that it would become second nature._

"Technically true..." Satori lay on her back, staring at the ceiling much as Marisa now was, both trying to keep their dizziness under control. "But there's more to it."

"Of course there is." _Just like there was with Reimu... Ran saved the Hakurei... power... just like she said._ Irritation at being tricked gnawed at Marisa, though it was minor enough that Satori managed to ignore it.

"Controlling two bodies and perceptions requires a certain sort of mind. Well, one of two, anyway. First, you could be like Alice, Youmu, or even myself, and have such a focused and trained mind that it can filter the input and output properly." Satori started explaining.

"Or?"

"Or you can be insane like Flandre or Yuuka. A split mind has no difficulty dealing with a split body."

Marisa moaned. _I don't think I like that option._

"Guess which one is the way most people go?" _Insane...?_ Satori nodded and continued.

"Still, you're resourceful, and your familiarity with magic means you may be able to avoid that fate. Using the eyepatches to keep your vision limited to either the Netherworld or Gensokyo as needed was a good idea... A temporary, imperfect fix, but it should help buy you the time to learn to deal with the split."

"Thanks, I guess? Hey, wait..." _Suwako doesn't seem like either of those-_

"Gods work differently. They... more or less create a new identity for each body, so they don't have a split perception at all, despite having several different bodies."

"So, maybe I could become a god, too?"

"Perhaps. I'm not sure how it works with living gods... Sanae's the only one I've met, and she never manifested separately from her full human form. Anyway, your eyepatch solution is a good sign. That you even attempted to come up with a solution makes it means you aren't willing to just take the easy path to insanity... I think you're more likely to achieve the mental focus you need than to slip into madness. You're a hard worker-"

"What? No... I take it easy, ya know?" Marisa insisted.

"As I was saying, you're a hard worker... though you hide it well. I suspect you'll manage it here, too... the only ones who'd really realize the effort you invested into remaining sane would be those of us who've done so ourselves."

"Youmu... myself... and Alice, I can understand..." _But Satori, too? _

"Yes, my third eye tends to have a lot of input... including that of the senses of everyone around me. Your situation is a bit different, because the Netherworld and Gensokyo have no common points of reference, but it may be possible to adapt. I can help you a bit, if you'd like. I still owe you for rescuing me from Yuuka."

_-May- be possible? _"You're not very good at this whole 'motivational speech' thing, are you?"

Satori shrugged. "I don't have a lot of practice... my pets are very difficult to motivate. Anyway, do you want my help or not?"

"How could you help, though?"

"Well, I could hypnotize you to remove your proprioception, which would stop the disorientation from your bodies receiving different physical input by removing most of that input."

"I have no idea what you just said, but if you can make it so I don't throw up by trying to lift a glass, I'm on board." Marisa was clearly confused... Reisen would have been able to better explain, but it seemed Marisa didn't care about the specifics anyway. She clearly just wanted the sickness to go away, whatever the price.

"It will ruin any sense of balance or the like you'll have, but you'll be able to get some practice in trying to move your bodies independently. The effects will gradually wear off, of course, but by then you should adapt to-"

"Already told you I don't care. Just do it." Marisa's eagerness was undeniable. Satori shrugged and created a pattern of lights in front of Marisa.

"Alright. Look into the lights, and don't look away... and do it with both eyes. I'll do the rest." Marisa reluctantly removed the eyepatches, fighting a somersaulting stomach the whole time, then stared at the lights, fascinated by their hypnotic pattern. Satori altered it carefully, guiding Marisa's mind to ignore the sensations of her own bodies.

That done, she decided it would easier to coax the memories she needed out of Marisa's mind while Satori had her under hypnosis. She changed the light pattern to resemble Makai as Alice had seen it. Unsurprisingly, Marisa began to resist the hypnosis... the memories of Makai that were coming forth were painful. Satori sighed... of course they would be... but she had to find out as much as she could of what happened in Makai. She carefully altered the hypnotic pattern to guide Marisa's mind through her time in Makai.

First, Satori noticed a green haired ghost... no, it seemed she had always corrected everyone and insisted she was an 'evil spirit'. This 'Mima' had served as Marisa's instructor in her early years of magic study. Marisa's memories of Mima were conflicting and confused. Mima had been ruthless in her training of Marisa, and while the young witch's apprenticeship had been extremely fruitful, it hadn't been easy for her... Satori redirected the hypnosis to learn more about this mentor... it seemed she was at least associated with Makai, if Marisa's mind had called her up.

Images of Marisa's training flashed through her mind, stuttering as it resisted the hypnosis. Satori strengthened her mental grip and forged onwards. Whoever this Mima was, it seemed she had played an important role in the attack on Makai that Reimu, Marisa, and Yuuka had done.

The early years of Marisa's training involved tests of physical and mental endurance, Mima assaulting her with magic of every sort. After that, she had taught Marisa some basic spells through fierce repetition, every failure accompanied by some time in complete sensory deprivation or a beating that left her bedridden for a week or longer. And Mima wouldn't accept being bedridden as an excuse to take a break from her studies.

Satori had to admit that Mima was a very impressive instructor. Within only two to three years, Marisa, who had known no magic at all when she had run away to train under Mima, was at a level of mastery some magicians took their whole lives to achieve... and these were the results of just the initial stages of the training. To be sure, Marisa had an unusual talent for magic and had been strongly self-motivated to learn it., but Mima knew how to coax that talent to the surface. Marisa's first confrontation with Reimu had been a trial by fire of sorts. Though she had lost, her mere survival had impressed Mima enough to move on to the second stage of training.

It seemed this had involved summoning relatively minor demons and defeating them to receive a measure of their power or force them to teach a new spell. Mima helped with the summoning on occasion, but never with the actual conflict. Marisa hadn't always won, but Mima never punished her, now. Instead, Mima had told Marisa that the torture the victorious demons had inflicted on the young girl were punishment enough. Those tortures were only slightly less than what Alice had faced, it seemed. Every time Marisa had been defeated, she was taught a new level of pain by the demon that had defeated her. An effective motivator to continue improving her technique and skill, as Mima demanded that Marisa perform at least one such summon a week. Marisa's mind struggled to break free of the hypnosis, but Satori's mental grasp held firm onto Marisa's squirming memories, though the tortures were bad enough that Satori skipped past them for her own sake as well as Marisa's.

It was during this time that she had first met Yuuka. Marisa had struck out on her own after a particularly good run of victories, and sought out an new unknown source of power. Along the way she had encountered Reimu, and after a vicious battle to a draw, had continued onward with the shrine maiden. She met Yuuka somewhere near there... Marisa had been defeated by Yuuka's Master Spark-like spell. Nearly dead, she was rescued by Reimu just in time for Mima's next demon summoning. Marisa suffered a severe losing streak afterwards, and nearly died several times more.

Eventually, Mima decided Marisa was ready... now on a level of mastery that could begin to compete with Mima, and Mima decided to storm Makai, dragging Marisa along. Reimu had accompanied them... it appeared there was some sort of flood of demons appearing in Gensokyo that Reimu had felt obligated to stop, while Yuuka had joined for the slaughter. Mima had no objections, knowing that the magic she would learn from the goddess of the land of magic could wield and teach would be incomparable... She seemed to have little doubt she could deal with Yuuka should she betray the others in her bloodlust, as long as they defeated Shinki first.

Satori thought back to the sorts of spells Alice had said were in the tome. Satori had no doubt they would have lived up to Mima's expectations. Clearly, though, the book hadn't ended up in Mima's possession, so the evil spirit hadn't succeeded. Satori continued to drive Marisa's thoughts towards Makai once again, though the witch's mental struggles were becoming harder to restrain.

Marisa's memories of her time in Makai came to the forefront. Sure enough, she had met Alice, though she had largely ignored the young girl. Marisa had guessed that Yuuka, moving slowly as a result of killing everything she saw, had slain Alice. Marisa and Mima fought through a great many demons, and eventually reached Shinki. The specifics of the conflict were blurry, but Marisa had quickly decided she was outmatched and fled back, passing Yuuka on her way to Shinki. She fled Makai, and when Reimu showed up at the gate soon after, Reimu said she didn't know where Mima was, and that Yuuka was fighting Shinki.

The two, friends for years at this point, decided to simply seal the gate. Reimu because of the threat it posed, and Marisa because she was afraid Mima would find her and discover she'd fled... Or that Shinki would come through and fulfill the promises she had uttered during their fight... or that Yuuka wouldn't be satisfied with killing everything in merely one world. Marisa spent almost all of her energy and concentration channeling raw magical energy for Reimu to use, far more skilled in sealing rituals.

It had taken longer than Marisa had thought it should, but despite her fears, the finished seal had been very thorough... only a very skilled eye could even tell there had been a gate present. Marisa recently found out that Reimu had been keeping the seal maintained, and that this responsibility now fell to Marisa. The seal had fallen apart, though it had only been a few weeks since Reimu's disappearance. Marisa, now far more experienced, easily reinstated the seal, and reported its damage to Ran.

Why... why hadn't the demons simply used that gate if it was open? The question plagued Satori, though Marisa had given it little thought. Perhaps they had forgotten it existed, or that part of Makai had been sealed off? Perhaps they -had- gone through, and were keeping a low profile. Satori wondered what Ran thought about it.

Marisa had some lingering fears... what if Mima, Shinki, or Yuuka had escaped before the seal had been completed. Reimu had assured her it wasn't the case early on, but Yuuka's presence in Gensokyo had reaffirmed her fears. Marisa had continued to grow in magical skill, and was now easily the most capable human magician Satori had ever met, despite her young age... though she was still outmatched by many youkai.

Finished, she dissolved the lights and released their hold over Marisa's mind. The witch-shrine-maiden snapped out of her trance, looking disturbed... _What did she do that for?._ Marisa glared at Satori. "It's not bad enough to crawl through my mind, you felt the need to bring up some of my worst traumas?"

"I just had some questions I needed answered." _She couldn't have just -asked-?_ Marisa was getting upset... suppressing the urge to swing at Satori, only because of the nausea she knew it would bring... she spoke instead.

"Did you get your answers?"

"Some, but not as many as I'd hoped." Satori's answer didn't please Marisa...

"Glad to hear it was -worth- tearing into my mind, then." the witch muttered through gritted teeth. "I don't suppose you'll mind if I test the reason you put me under hypnosis to begin with?" Marisa hovered towards Satori as the youkai shook her head... she could see Marisa needed this.

Satori could see what was coming, and braced herself as Marisa launched a solid punch at the Satori's face. What neither Satori nor Marisa expected was the force behind the punch. Satori landed several feet away... not exactly the force an oni had, but far more than what Marisa was used to. Satori struggled to remain conscious, focusing her attention on healing herself... but her head was spinning too much. She tried to use Marisa's stable state of mind to steady herself, but it took time.

Marisa looked at her fist, surprised... not only at the strength of her swing, but at the surprising lack of nausea... and a few moments later, at the sudden pain in her nose. She realized her other body was now laying on the ground, having overbalanced by swinging at nothing.

"It seems you don't... know your own... strength." Satori said as she slowly rose, still reeling from the blow. _How... do I get up when I'm already standing?_

"Try... lowering your body in this world to the ground like the other one is. Using those muscles might scrape you up a bit in the netherworld, but it will be easier to stand after that." Satori's attempts at remaining on her feet weren't going particularly well, but she managed to clear her head enough to finally cast a healing spell, dealing with the injury. It wasn't the first time, and she was sure it wouldn't be the last, that she had wished she had a more durable body.

Marisa followed Satori's advice, and with relatively little effort, managed to get her feet under her. She stood up, but toppled over quickly. _What's going on? The sickness is gone, but-_

"Your body isn't receiving its normal feedback. You should probably favor magic to stabilize yourself. As I mentioned, the effect will pass, but it should do so slowly enough that you can properly adapt to having two bodies."

"Well... thanks, I suppose." Marisa said as she stood up using a wall for support. _Now that she mentions it, this is really weird._

"Your balance isn't quite as good as someone ready to pass out drunk, so be careful. Now then, I actually do have a few more questions, if you don't mind."

_This must be about Alice-_

"I was wondering about that Oni- what about Alice?" _Oh... she wondering about Suika?_

"Not as much as I'm wondering about Alice, now... what happened to her?" Satori was worried... in addition to having strong ties with Makai... and very possibly the objective Shinki sought, she had been directly threatened by Medicine in the past. While the doll may have been subdued, Alice was by no means safe... Yuuka may have sought revenge as well...

"Alice and Patchouli kidnapped Medicine... Ran says-" _they're helping the demons by preventing Eirin's recovery._ Marisa clearly didn't share this view.

Satori looked suddenly worried. "What made her think this?"

"When Meiling gave Alice's energy to me, Ran noted that it seemed demonic. I... I never knew Alice was a demon..." _But it would explain why she stole away the culprit behind Eirin's condition._

"She isn't." Satori's statement was flat... her worry obvious.

"How can you be so sure?"

"Remember? I've met her? I read hearts? Who do you think is more honest... myself, or Ran?"

_Well... Ran did decieve me about Reimu's death... Okay, sure..._ "But why would Ran lie?"

"Because she doesn't know Alice that well. Alice's demonic energy stems from her birth, not her life." _What the hell does -that- mean?_

"I'll let Alice tell you first hand, but she would much rather die than willingly and knowingly aid the demons."

"Then... why kidnap Medicine? We might have been able to make an antidote sooner with her." Marisa was trying to think of another reason she might have done so, but kept drawing a blank.

"A very good question. Alice feared Medicine, and rightly so. She may have tried kidnapping Medicine in order to allay the doll youkai's fears... or to kill her outright for her own defense, confident she wouldn't be useful." Satori said it, but it didn't sound right. Alice wasn't the sort to throw herself at danger like that... no, Medicine had made Alice quite fearful. Removing such a potentially useful youkai agains the demons would be unusual for Alice as well, no matter how remote the possibility of her help was. Satori guessed again.

"What if... what if Medicine kidnapped Alice? She's escaped from Eirin... I wouldn't be at all surprised if she managed to escape from Udonge as well, and she's got a grudge against the puppeteer."

"There was a witness, though... that gatekeeper saw them escaping. Alice definitely stole Medicine away, not the other way around. And besides, why would Medicine take Patchouli as well?"

"That's right... you mentioned Patchouli helped Alice with the abduction. I can't think of a reason Medicine would want Patchouli, I suppose. Trust me, though. Alice wouldn't help the demons if her soul depended on it. She and Patchouli must have come up with some cure and needed supplies or something that wasn't available at the mansion."

"The gatekeeper said they told her something like that, but she didn't believe them, and she can even tell when I'm lying."

Satori raised an eyebrow. Marisa was not exactly the best liar in the world. Perhaps the most frequent liar, but far from the most convincing. "I'm inclined to believe them, then."

_I guess it's moot anyway, with Sakuya after them_. "Remilia sent-"

"I suppose it is. Perhaps they can use her help with whatever remedy they had planned... she seems to be well trained to assist in a great many things.."

"But Remilia sent her to-" _Capture them no matter the cost._

"Sakuya's brighter than her mistress, and knows what's better for Remilia than the vampire herself does. She'll be fine."

"I hope you're right."

"Don't worry yourself. Medicine shouldn't be a problem, and it's fine, anyway. Udonge and I will treat Eirin, we'll get the earth sealed, and then we'll have time to mount a proper counteroffensive against the demons and sort out this Alice and Medicine issue." Satori's words comforted Marisa... finally she heard someone saying things would be alright... A comfort few people had afforded her lately. Satori continued, drawing Marisa's attention.

"Now, about this oni..." _Suika?_ Satori winced... she thought she had recognized Suika, but had hoped she was wrong... that she had misheard Marisa's heart earlier.

"Yes... What is Suika doing here?"

Marisa shrugged... "I don't know. She was here when I got back, along with Tenshi. Said it was Tenshi's tale to tell, and just drank herself to sleep afterward."

"I suppose I'll need to ask-"

_'Huh? Who are you talking to, Marisa? Someone visiting the shrine?'_ Someone spoke to Marisa from the Netherworld, and she turned to the speaker and replied. "Yeah. She even helped fix that nausea problem."

_'Any connection to your falls a bit ago?'_ Yorihime asked, as Satori stood, impatient at the distraction. "Yeah... messed up my balance... still worth it, though. Reimu awake yet?"

_'Yes. She awakened about an hour ago. You should probably talk to her. She agreed to the training you mentioned... says it'll give her something to do, anyway. Still, she's upset.'_

"Of course she is. She got played like a fiddle by Yukari. I'll talk to her. Thanks for training her, though."

Satori finally decided to speak. "I take it you delivered Udonge's message, then? Thank you. Give this 'Yorihime' my thanks as well. It seems she's skilled at summoning gods?" Marisa turned back to Satori.

"The best I've seen. The lady's unbeatable." Marisa said, grinning. Obvious hyperbole, considering the person she was speaking of was dead, but Marisa was truly impressed by Yorihime's skills.

"Oh! Well, if there's such a skilled shrine maiden, then Reimu probably doesn't need to train. Think she could summon the Goddess of Makai?"

"Oh, no doubt, but I don't think she's a shrine maiden, exactly."

_'What are you talking about?'_

"Satori here wants you to control the Goddess of Makai... you could do that, right?"

Yorihime's face went pale and she wrapped her arms around herself, fearfully. _'No. Not anymore... I... I never managed to... banish her_. _So I can't call her again.'_ Marisa was confused... she'd never seen Yorihime this bad... the woman was shaking, her normal composure shattered.

"Yorihime says-"

"I know, I heard her. Ask her to elaborate, if she can."

"What do you mean, Yorihime? You... you actually called her?"

_'I... I called her to order her to banish her troops. It... it wasn't that hard. But...'_

"But what?"

_'But she's hidden... most of her titles, so I wasn't able... to bind her.'_ Yorihime's gaze was distant, clearly recalling a trauma she'd rather not. Marisa winced.

"Alright, so Reimu -does- need to undergo training." Satori sighed.

"What good would Reimu training do if she can't even bind the goddess?"

"She just needs to know the titles to do so though, right?.

"Which even -Yorihime- didn't. We're talking about the lady knew how to summon and bind Izunome... I'd never even -heard- of that one..." Marisa noticed Yorihime regaining her composure slightly at the praise.

_'The Goddess of Makai... she wasn't merely obscure... she was -obscured-. Even I... even I'd never heard of a god who obscures her nature. They need faith to survive.. and she had so much power, despite keeping herself unknown... how could a faithless god have such power? Or even exist?'_

Satori pondered this as an awkward silence filled the two worlds. "She might be gathering faith from her demons... She creates and rules over them, but they're individuals enough to give her faith to live and thrive on..."

"So, what, the demons know all her titles?"

"If she's deliberately been hiding them, I doubt it. She likely tells each demon but one of her titles to worship her by... the only one sure to know them all is herself... and I doubt she'd be very willing to indulge our curiosity."

"So... what good would summoning her do?"

_'None...' _Yorihime hadn't heard Satori's explanation, of course, so she remained unconvinced.

"I'll find a way to bind her. I'm sure there must be a method... but Reimu's going to need to be able to summon her."

"Well... if you don't mind, can I go and speak with Reimu, then?" Satori shook her head, and Yorihime simply stumbled away. Marisa went outside the shrine/her room, and moved a ways beyond, flying rather than trusting her unsteady feet.

Satori looked back at the oni. Well, she'd had worse ideas before. She moved up to Suika and reached out to touch her to awaken her. She poked Suika... once... then again, harder... soon kicking with all her strength, but the oni gave no sign of noticing Satori's assault. Satori recognized the gourd Suika hugged, and made a grab for it.

As soon as she touched it, a crushing pressure closed around her wrist, and before she managed to push aside the pain, she was in a fierce hold, thoroughly unable to move. Satori had awakened Suika, and the oni was none too pleased, upset that someone would dare to touch her magic gourd. Her instinctual response finished, she started collecting her thoughts and waking up. When she realized who she was holding, she let go, allowing Satori to gasp out air.

_What does Satori want with my gourd?_ "Why were you trying to steal my gourd?" Suika asked, clearly confused. _Isn't she a real lightweight? Gets drunk off fumes from what I remember._

Satori caught her breath, and explained, already a little groggy from Suika's alcohol-blurred mind. "I just wanted to wake you up." She looked at Suika... that first frayed end that had begun the unraveling of the underground. The teller of the white lie that cascaded into a genocide. Satori knew the fault lie as much within the satori for enforcing complete honesty as within the oni for failing to live up to their own standards of honesty... that the two races would never have gotten along well for long. It would be so easy to lay the blame squarely at Suika's feet, but Satori couldn't.

_Wonder why... hey, wait, what's she doing up here?_ Suika suddenly looked suspicious once again.

"I'm here on business for the Yama." This explanation seemed enough to calm Suika.

"Anything I can do to help?" _Sooner she finishes, the sooner she goes back home._ Satori could tell that the small oni wanted Satori to return for the surface's sake as much as Satori's own. thankfully, it seemed Suika didn't harbor the deep loathing most oni did for Satori. Perhaps because Suika had finally come to realize that even oni lie from time to time... after all, one little lie had resulted in her exile... she couldn't just forget it. Satori grinned a bit at the irony... that the oni who realized she was occasionally dishonest was the only one who didn't lie to herself daily.

"You know anything about Makai?" Suika shook her head. _Heard the name before, but never had any business there._

"I didn't think you would. Well, if you don't mind me indulging my curiosity...?" Satori gestured to Tenshi, still out cold from... something. Suika turned to Tenshi... _Heh, yeah. Maybe Yuuka finally managed to beat the stupid out of her._

"She fought Yuuka?"

"Oh yeah! One helluva fight, too! Kinda her story to tell... but I suppose you're probably looking it over now anyway, aren't you?" Suika sighed as she couldn't help but recall some highlights of the fight... _She put up more of a fight than I thought! 'Course, Yuuka can push even a celestial's endurance past the breaking point, it seems._

"She's a celestial?" Satori panicked. Celestials had been portrayed as a sort of bogeyman for young satori. Legends of fates far worse than death awaited any satori who met the enlightened... becoming lost in their empty minds, being devoured completely by the void they thought. Perhaps they were merely legends... but Satori wasn't especially willing to find out first hand.

"Yup! She's a lot more fun than most, though. Wonder what she'd think of you." _Probably mild interest followed by rapid hate._

"Yeah... do... you mind if we go outside, in case she wakes up?"

Suika laughed brightly. "I'll eat my gourd if she wakes up before dawn. Even a celestial can't fight Yuuka for a solid week and sleep it off in a night."

"A -week-?" Satori diddn't believe it... but Suika's mind revealed it to be the truth. Suika herself had watched the entire fight, surrounding the battlefield in her mist form to get an amazing perspective on the fight, as well as hide the spectacle from most onlookers.

"Yeah. The kid's got some impressive stamina."

"But... wait, last I heard, Yuuka was..." Satori thought back to her conversation with Gengetsu. Gengetsu had met Yuuka... perhaps five days ago, accounting for the differences in time.

"Was what?"

"Yuuka didn't... sleep fight or anything, did she?"

"Nah... Tenshi there did a real impressive job of keeping her awake. Well, until earlier today, anyway. Why?"

Satori grew suddenly concerned. Satori knew Yuuka could split herself temporarily... Satori had used that very ability against her. How could she have been in the dream world Gengetsu lived in while she was fighting Tenshi? The thought wouldn't escape her mind. What if... there was another Yuuka...? One was bad enough... but two?

_She alright? _Suika noted the blood draining from Satori's face. "What? What is it?"

"Just... I just had a nightmarish thought. N...never mind. I'll... just go, before she wakes up..." Satori said, stepping through to Senkai immediately after, leaving behind a very confused Suika.

* * *

_**Senkai**_

Satori saw Udonge was still asleep, but didn't see, hear, or read Miko anywhere... presumably the 'crown prince' was off meditating in the empty world outside her dojo. Satori decided to join Udonge in slumber. She made her way to her sparse room, thoughts of a pair of Yuukas flitting about within her mind. She quickly put herself to sleep, knowing this would likely be the last rest she got for some time... Eirin's care would require most of her attention.

* * *

_**Garden of the Sun?  
**_

"A -flower- youkai?" Yuuka laughed. Only fitting for such a weakling to choose such a ridiculous theme, I suppose. Yuuka looked around the landscape of the Garden of the Sun, seeking herself.

"And sunflowers, of all things? How benign..." Yuuka landed near one and tore a flower from its stem... blood sprayed out, and a horrific scream accompanied it as Yuuka was covered in gore. She laughed, amused at the result.

"Well, at least she's keeping up our image despite that. Perhaps she deserves a little more credit than I initially gave her." Yuuka looked up into the sky and saw Yuuka firing a master spark that covered much of the sky.

"Seems she hasn't had much opportunity to keep up with me, though." Ground-Yuuka effortlessly merely wiped away the sky, Adding Marisa, Alice, Reimu... several others as well. Sky-Yuuka seemed to effortlessly defeat each of them, only having the slightest difficulty. Another wave and Satori took their place.

"It seems this is the one that claimed she defeated me..." Ground-Yuuka watched as the fight unfolded in great detail. She couldn't restrain her laughter as she watched Sky-Yuuka face defeat at the receiving end of her own attacks. Her laughter doubled when Satori fled almost immediately.

"Well, I suppose I can't fault them for losing their composure there. After all, I'd be afraid of me, too, if I weren't me." Yuuka grinned, not even a faint hint of innocence in her smile as she flew up to Satori, traversing the distance easily and spoke to her.

"I suppose some thanks are in order. I'd been wondering where that bit of me had gone. Don't worry, she won't trouble you much longer. I'll be by to pick her up before long. Oh, and I'm afraid I can't let you keep going around saying you've beaten Yuuka Kazami, because it simply isn't true. We'll sort that out after I pick her up, I think... if you're still around then, that is." With that, the remaining Yuuka gently poked Satori's breastbone... and the light pressure became a crushing force, cracking bone easily, though with no effort on Yuuka's part.

Satori woke up with a start. She felt like she was suffocating... she coughed something up... she reached to her chest, and immediately felt something was wrong. She was sporting several shattered ribs that she hadn't gone to sleep with, and she had a firm suspicion that her difficulty breathing was from her lungs flooding with blood... Her shirt was wet with a warm, slightly sticky, thick liquid. Beginning to panic, she swiftly wove the spell she had learned from Byakuren to heal herself. She managed to cast it despite the pain from simply moving, and her breath returned to normal. She calmed down slightly... it seemed she was alone as she sat up.

She rested her head in her hand as she finished waking up... had it been a nightmare? It must have been. She must have just awakened now. She stood out of her bed and already the details of the dream were beginning to fade from her mind. She cast a basic light spell and looked herself over to comfort herself.

Satori immediately used hypnosis to memorize as much of the dream as she could. Given the new evidence she had just uncovered, she would be a fool to dismiss the dream as nothing more.

Satori's shirt and hands were still covered in her own blood.


	15. Chapter 15

_**Meanwhile, In The Skies of Gensokyo**_

Miko Toyosatomimi hovered high in the night sky. Now was the first chance she had had to go to Gensokyo without arousing Satori's suspicions. Now she could finally find out why Satori was being so secretive... find out what was going on in Gensokyo that it was so important she be kept away from. She braced herself... and removed her mufflers.

Voices pounded at her... She easily tuned out the many mundane voices worrying about a child, or what to plant in the upcoming spring... the voices talking about how they wish spring would come, about how lovely their partner was, about who would pay the tab. The far more common at this hour youkai voices, discussing hunting strategies or getting drunk or simply having paranoid discussions with each other.

And overpowering nearly everything else... to the point that even Miko couldn't completely ignore it, was a loud 'performance', if one could even call it that. Meaningless words, shouted over the sounds of a strange instrument, then echoed back... but it had a charm to it... the discontent and conviction within the cacophony were clear, even if the sounds themselves were painful to Miko's sensitive ears.

She focused as much as she could on the discussions of current events instead... The demon's invasion, an undergrounder making a splash on the surface, a bounty on Satori... the hundred or more people hunting her... for... No way. Fifty million yen? Who in Gensokyo even had that much money? She kept listening... Remilia Scarlet... the vampire? And that wasn't all... several were hunting her with no concern about the bounty... thinking her to be helping the demons. It sounded like... Alice and Patchouli had helped the demons, and Alice had helped Satori earlier. A poison doll youkai had escaped, then been kidnapped by someone else after being defeated.

Furthermore, she kept an ear open for the other reason she had come to Gensokyo just now... Miko listened carefully for any mention of Byakuren, and it seems she was quite a topic of conversation as well... she'd become extremely reclusive lately, and tensions at the Myouren temple were high. Listening more carefully, she heard worry for Byakuren... she was apparently suffering from some sort of affliction, though this wasn't well known...

Miko put her mufflers back over her ears, thankfully blocking the sound of the screaming 'music', and returned to Senkai. Satori's concern was now far more understandable... she had doubtless feared Miko would attempt to claim the bounty... And Miko couldn't deny that she was indeed tempted to do so. At least she didn't need to hunt Satori... if she decided she wanted the bounty, it would be simple enough to claim. To think she had sequestered herself away from Gensokyo for but a few weeks and so much had happened...

If Alice and Patchouli, two of the most skilled magicians, were helping the demons, then Byakuren was almost certainly still doing so. While Satori had said Byakuren had cut off any demonic connections, Miko doubted it. After all, Byakuren was, by all accounts, a very skilled mage... throwing away most of her power would be nothing short of foolish. Besides, Satori had been willing enough to conceal her motives for hiding in Senkai... perhaps Satori really -was- aiding the demons by protecting Byakuren from Miko's wrath. And with Byakuren having become suddenly reclusive, she was undoubtadly doing something in secret... very likely something to aid her friends, the demons. Well, Miko would find out the truth, and teach Byakuren that nothing good can come from Makai.

Miko opened another crack to Gensokyo, and stepped through.

* * *

_**Myouren Temple**_

Miko entered the room with Byakuren, her keen ears having directed her to the location of her rival. She... hadn't been expecting what she saw, though. The mutterings she had heard of Byakuren's state didn't even have the half of it. Miko almost didn't recognize the broken woman in front of her.

Byakuren was eerily empty. She had no desire to do anything. She awaited death, but only out of expectation, not longing. The grand ambitions Miko had heard from her in the past were all gone. She no longer wished to champion youkai... no longer wished to reform Gensokyo, or reward her friends for helping her escape confinement in Makai. No need or desire to eat, sleep, or drink. Were Byakuren not breathing, Miko might have thought her dead. As it was, Miko was caught off guard... would Byakuren even defend herself if attacked?

"What happened to you?" Miko asked. Byakuren turned to Miko, acknowledging her presence, but her composure remained the same.

"Many things. Too many things... not enough things... isn't that what people always say when they're about to die?" Byakuren's voice was almost as dead and drained as her hopes... nonsense poured from her mouth, and Miko was terribly unnerved.

"Good of you to recognize what's about to happen, I suppose. Your demonic life can't be allowed to continue... not with Gensokyo facing the greatest enemy it may well have ever seen." Miko purposefully approached Byakuren, though the youkai magician hardly even reacted, her empty gaze merely tracking Miko.

Miko fired a blast of energy at Byakuren. Weak, of course, as Byakuren was clearly feigning her weakness... Miko dodged out of the way of the retaliatory strike...

But it didn't come. Instead, Byakuren lay curled up on the ground from an attack that some -fairies- would have been able to shrug off. At least now there was a bit of a response... Byakuren clearly wanted the pain to stop, but felt it was too much to hope that it would without her death. She quietly began to hope for death. Miko wondered why Byakuren didn't declare a spellcard duel... perhaps it was another trick... without the spellcard rules protecting their lives, it was a high stakes battle, after all.

Miko heard something moving, though she couldn't pinpoint its location, and decided to hurry and end Byakuren's threat. Pressing her advantage, Miko fired another blast of magic at Byakuren, focusing strength into it to deal with Byakuren's wards... Miko knew Byakuren was able to cast them in mere fractions of a second, and needed the power to deal with them. The blast was caught, but not by Byakuren (who curiously -still- lacked her wards), but by someone else. The newcomer spoke in a strange voice... Miko didn't quite recognize it.

"You'll not be killing any of us, fiend!" The one who had intervened had desires... but even Miko wasn't entirely sure of them... She wasn't about to stop, though, and lunged at her new opponent, drawing her sword and charging it with Taoist magic before swinging.

It caught on some sort of trident, and was nearly wrenched out of her hand... instead, Miko kept her grip and sent herself flying along with the sword, catching herself on the wall before landing smoothly on the ground.

"Who are you?" Miko asked, but only received a reply of... Laughter? Choking? Snorting? She held her sword ready to parry, her other hand ready to deflect any incoming magic. Miko's foe made a sudden movement, and Miko moved to intercept, but read the attack wrong... hadn't even realized it -was- an attack until after it had hit, slamming her through the wall. Her own wards protected her, but it had been a solid blow.

Miko looked at the demon that followed her through the hole, finally getting a good look at it. Just as she had suspected, it had all the trappings of a demon... flames writhed around its red skin as it wielded its forked weapon, nasty looking horns, outsretched leathery wings, eyes that hungered for flesh, and teeth that made that meal feasible. One of the stronger demon sorts that Miko had heard of... Byakuren must have bound it into her service... well within her capabilities, though it seemed summoning it had left the magician youkai rather drained.

Miko darted around the demon, trying to get back to Byakuren. She slipped through the lumbering beast's legs, only to find herself somehow impaled on its pitchfork. It kicked Miko off of the weapon, and she staggered backwards, stumbling into the wall before catching herself. She channeled magic to heal her wounds, as she listened carefully for the demon. She heard someone else's footsteps a good distance away, running with a catlike grace, and heard, too, the demon approaching her.

She finally finished healing and looked up, but the demon wasn't in sight, its footsteps now sounding like they were coming from Byakuren's room. Miko crept towards the room carefully, and saw Byakuren, finally standing up. She quietly began chanting another spell, sure the demon couldn't hear. And sure enough, it didn't seem to move from its spot.

Confident she had gathered enough energy to finish Byakuren, she shot her hand out... only to realize it had been caught by the demon, who redirected her arm into the air, leaving her wide open. Miko tore free of the demon's surprisingly weak grasp, only to then realize where the demon's other arm... and the weapon it was wielding... might be.

Miko felt the heavy weight of the demon's spear slam against her head, sending her reeling. The demon loomed above here, and lifted her spear to deliver a fatal blow to the dizzied shikaisen.

"Stop!" Byakuren's voice came through loud and clear, and the demon looked at her, angry and confused. Miko took the opening and crawled away, focusing fiercely on opening a gate to Senkai. She managed to get it open with some effort as the demon responded.

"She attacked you! Tried to kill you! You can't be serious!" Byakuren stared down the demon, obviously in control, and Miko slipped through the portal, muttering as she left.

"To think she even fooled Satori..." Miko closed the gate behind her and let her drained body rest.

* * *

_**Myouren Temple**_

"Why did you stop me?"

"I just-" Byakuren started, but was swiftly interrupted by her defender.

"You... you -are- on her side, aren't you? You never intended to help us in the first place!"

"What? No! I really do want to help our kind... youkai... to find a place in the world... to ease the tensions between-"

"If you wanted to help us, you wouldn't have saved the life of a -fellow- youkai hunter, now would you?"

"I told you, I gave that up a long time ago..."

"Did you really? Or have you simply become more ambitious? After all, why kill a youkai when you can wipe out an entire race just as easily by destroying their nature... by making -them- betray their nature?"

"Is... this about Satori? Because-" Byakuren was silenced by the malevolent aura her defender suddenly emitted... Never had Byakuren seen such hate... it almost seemed to distort the air in the room... Her skin tingled, and the pressure caused her eyes to ache with each pulse of loathing, punctuated by one word at a time.

"Not. About. Her." The hatred dissolved slowly, as Byakuren merely gawked. She had lived among youkai, helped them so much... that sometimes she forgot just what they were... and of course, no one knew just what the youkai she currently faced was capable of.

"Sor... sorry."

"No, you're not. You've got a lot of explaining to do, but I think you've lost your chance to do so. If you're going to oppose youkai, then we're just better off without you." The youkai thrust its trident at Byakuren's heart.

Byakuren instinctively threw up a barrier, and the trident slowed to a crawl, then halted its momentum as its cold tines touched skin.

"I'm not going to oppose youkai. But I'm not going to let themselves get destroyed, either." Byakuren slapped the weapon away as she stared into the eyes of her opponent.

"I can't help but notice you're opposing me at this very moment. To think I once regretted helping you stay sealed..." was the growled reply.

"Destroying me would only hurt your cause. I'm going to help youkai, and I'm going to help humans. We -will- find-" Byakuren's speech was cut short by a sharp pain in her side. She saw the trident impaling her and grew faint. What had happened? It had been nearly ten seconds... she should be at full-

Then she remembered... Her scroll was gone... And she had been busy talking rather than preparing wards... She would have to cast her own spells, now. Fine, then that's what she'd do. She wouldn't fall now... not when she had been given a chance to improve on paradise. Well... she hoped she wouldn't anyway. The agony as the trident was wrenched in her side seemed like it might spoil those grand plans as it sending her crumpling to her knees, then to the ground as the weapon's support was removed. Her world spun...

Dozens of questions assaulted her mind, but she couldn't answer any of them... couldn't even properly acknowledge them. She started gathering magic... she knew a spell that could heal her, after all, and focused her mind on it.

Of course, that depended on her having the time to cast it. As she looked up, continuing with the gestures and incantation, she nearly lost her focus then and there when faced with the wicked seeming pike thrusting towards her head. The spear that deflected it to narrowly miss her was a welcome relief, and she continued the healing spell, though of course her assailant's focus had shifted somewhat.

Shou Toramaru stood wielding the spear in both hands, her stance making it obvious she wasn't very skilled with it. Even so, none could doubt her conviction as she roared at Byakuren's assailant.

"Lay down your weapon!"

"And who's going to make me? You? Please, I've seen you training!" Shou clumsily parried several attacks, before finding herself in a corner. "Even Kyouko can beat you with that stick!" Shou was swiftly disarmed and her arm was impaled as it took a hit meant for her body, but that didn't quiet her.

"Do not underestimate the avatar of Bishamonten!" Shou grabbed her attacker and attempted to gain control of the grapple, putting on a surprisingly good show with just her good arm.

"His slave, you mean! You can't even take your true form any longer! You've given up your power, your very existence... and for what? Shiny baubles?"

"-This- is my true form. I am no mere youkai..." Shou had managed to get her smaller opponent's body in a firm hold, though her captive's arms were free to send the trident into Shou several more times as the tiger-patterned youkai spoke.

"You see, I've become a bit... of a... clever commander." Shou smirked despite the blood now flowing freely from several grievous wounds.

"Lot of good that's-"

A brilliant sparkle of light hit Shou's captive, and the shriek of pain indicated that it had had a clear effect... though perhaps not the full effect Shou had been hoping for. Bishamonten's avatar was thrown clear across the room, to fall in a badly bleeding heap, though her victim wasn't looking terribly good herself, taking a few moments to recover.

"Great, now, you've lost your good sense... is that it, Shou?" Nazrin's chittering voice chastised her master. "Suppose I'll have to find that for you after this, too, eh?"

"You lose... track... of... one... priceless artifact..." Shou groaned out.

"And we'll never let you live it down, that's right." Nazrin fired another blast from the pagoda, though no longer restrained, her foe dodged it... though with more effort than usual. Nazrin set up a rather complex web of beams to trap her opponent again for a clear shot. Unfortunately, surprising agility and swift movements defeated the well-laid out trap before it finished forming, succeeding only in slowing the charge at Nazrin. While Shou had had the advantage of size, Nazrin had precious little to defend herself with. Her dowsing rods parried strikes from the trident, but it quickly became clear her opponent was fighting strangely... far more intensely than ever before, and Nazrin had been keeping a very careful eye on this one.

While Nazrin had little trouble deflecting the trident's blows for quite some time with her two dowsing rods and avoiding it with her agility, her defensive capabilities were pushed beyond their limits when the six wing-spurs on her foe's back lashed out at her, impaling her three times even as she dodged two more and parried the last one and the trident. Off balance from the pain of the wounds, she could do little to avoid the next barrage of attacks... Nazrin cursed herself for falling so quickly... but it was clear that her opponent had been driven to desperation and was nearly defeated... if she'd managed to hold out a bit longer... She lay on the floor, curling into a ball reflexively, survival her only concern. A third barrage lashed at her back and tore it open, and she passed out from the pain.

Her foe struggled to catch its breath. A thunderous strike slammed it well into the floor, shattering the floorboards in the process, and rooting it nearly to the waist.

Byakuren stood, now fully prepared for battle. She moved in, and as her former defender worked to free itself from the earth, dodged the lashing spurs that sought to bite at Byakuren's skin. She slipped between all of them... between her foe's disorientation, burial, and fatigue, and Byakuren's own increased speed and reflexes, she found it an easy enough task.

"I will fight for Youkai. Even if that means I have to fight against them time to time." Byakuren slammed her magically charged fist into the youkai's chest, uprooting it and sending it flying into the wall. It tried to stagger to its feet, but Byakuren was there far sooner.

"Shou and Nazrin were willing to believe in me... even when I myself didn't. So I can understand why you don't..." Byakuren picked up her victim, her magically hardened skin easily ignoring the flailing wing-spurs as she carried the defeated youkai to the window. "But I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave until you're willing to reconsider peace as an alternative." Byakuren literally kicked her former defender-turned-assailant-turned victim out, sending it well outside the temple grounds.

Byakuren turned to Shou and Nazrin... their wounds were grievous... Perhaps not fatal to a youkai, but it would take a long while for them to heal... Byakuren decided she'd need to research a new spell... to heal others. It was the least she could do for Shou, Nazrin, and the others to repay them for freeing her not only from Makai, but from her own doubt as well.

Perhaps she couldn't do anything by herself... Perhaps those close to her would leave her eventually... but there would always be more people... people she'd be willing to die for, and people who would be willing to die for her. Even those people would eventually move on, of course. That didn't mean she would have to be lonely... just that she too would need to move on and allow the cycle to continue.

Byakuren called for Ichirin... the magician wouldn't be able to help them now... and realized that allowing Ichirin to take on this burden until Byakuren -was- able to help would be best for everyone. Humility had never been her strength, but she was beginning to understand its virtues.

Byakuren realized she'd never truly stand alone again... but had she ever really done so?

Had anyone?

* * *

_**Marisa's House**_

Sakuya had already checked both Alice's house and Eientei to no avail. Eientei even had a bit of rabbit activity beginning again, though Alice's house was eerily deserted, devoid even of the dolls that usually frequented it. Now near Marisa's house anyway, Sakuya noted that something was wrong about it. She was far from mastering her Qi to the extent Meiling had, but she could tell something was off.

Two people covered head to toe with cloth were sharing tea... presumably Alice and Patchouli, if Meiling's description had been accurate.

Sakuya started to descend, but recalled the warning she had received and remained far away, calling loudly instead.

"Patchouli, the Mistress would have you answer some questions!"

One of the two turned slowly to Sakuya, hovered slowly towards her, and spoke in a particularly sickly and croaking voice.

"No."

"It wasn't a request. Come along, and quickly. She's worried about you and your health... and you really don't sound very good."

"I'm not finished here, yet." Patchouli's feeble voice was straining heavily to say even that much... it was hardly even recognizeable.

Sakuya used the ability she had inherited from Meiling's treatment and training... she reached out and pulsed her Qi, and listened for an echo from Patchouli... the return wave was distorted and off balance... doubtless a result of Patchouli's obvious physical distress. It was a miracle the witch could move at all.

"I think your body disagrees. You're coming with me, alright? We'll bring Alice and Medicine back too, of course. We can't have them continuing to work with the demons."

"Work with... the what? Nevermind. I'm staying." Patchouli clumsily pulled out some spellcards, and Sakuya merely raised an eyebrow.

"You... you can't be serious. You can hardly even breathe right now. How are you going to chant spells?" Sakuya was dubious, but Patchouli was holding out her cards, still awaiting the response. Had Patchouli already forgotten Satori's first fateful visit to themansion... she had been seeking information about demons then... it hadn't even been a month, yet. Odd. Meanwhile, Alice quietly looked on from below.

"Fine. I win, and you're coming back to the mansion with me."

"And if I win, you'll stay here and help Alice with her studies." Patchouli even smelled a bit odd, and they were a good twenty feet apart yet.

Sakuya nodded... defeating Patchouli without killing her in such a weakened condition might be difficult, and the mistress would be very upset if Patchouli died. So Sakuya decided to fight with magic, rather than her knives... though she kept them ready in case Patchouli had some trick to pull.

Sakuya attempted to end the fight immediately, launching a wide pattern concentrated around Patchouli, knowing that in her state she'd be unable to move out of the way swiftly enough. Much to Sakuya's surprise, however, the witch did just that, easily dodging it, and retaliating with sickly looking balls of... mud? Water? Sakuya dodged them with little effort, of course, but something was wrong... Patchouli usually favored more magical blasts before declaring a spellcard... which she soon did.

"Magician sign: Mercury Poison." Sakuya was familiar with most of Patchouli's spells, of course, and she recognized the name easily... though the declaration was a bit off. What's more, the spell behaved differently, this time. Rather than forming concentric rings around Patchouli, the blue and silver pellets radiated outward instead, before going almost directly towards Sakuya. She had little difficulty dodging them, but it was a strange deviation... even more strange was that they kept following Sakuya for a long while after being launched. Perhaps Patchouli had improved on the spell since they had last sparred. It was certainly far more difficult to dodge... difficult enough that Sakuya decided once it had finished that she shouldn't take it so easy. Who knew what other developments Patchouli might have made?

"Secret Skill: Marionette!" Sakuya's voice rang clear, a sharp contrast to Patchouli's own croak. She threw her knives, realizing that she was in a harder fight than she had thought... She stopped time, threw more, and looked around as she altered their courses. Something struck her as off about the scene...

Alice was watching the fight, it seemed, a cup of tea in her hand, while her ever-present dolls were conspicuously absent. While this would be odd enough by itself, Sakuya now spotted a very different doll now sitting at the table. Alive and clearly conscious, even with time stopped, was Medicine Melancholy, sharing a drink with Alice. Why was she up and about? Sakuya released the time stop, her energy waning, and let the daggers fly all about.

"What is Medicine doing awake?"

"She's teaching us!"

Patchouli made an impressive show of dodging the myriad of knives, but she was struck several times, and barely managed to return to the ground before falling limp.

"What the devil are you talking about?" Sakuya moved down to collect her, but again... something was wrong... Normally she could feel her mistress's might take effect when she won a duel... could feel that the contract had been fulfilled. She felt no such thing, now... the duel wasn't over. Sakuya turned as she heard a different croaking voice growling as it approached her.

"Magician Sign: Fallen Country Witch." Alice had swiftly approached, and was mere feet away from Sakuya when she unleashed a potent blast of energy. Sakuya managed to dodge only by stopping time... which is when she got a good look at the attack. The blast seemed almost as alive as Alice herself. Sakuya released time again, and watched as the blast seemed to slither its way over the horizon, leaving a trail of sickening purple miasma behind it.

"You can't interfere! This duel is between me and Patchouli!" Sakuya was confused... Interfering with a duel forced a forfeit and bound the one who interfered under the winner-by-default... it was all but unheard of, and never turned out well whenever it had happened. So why would Alice put herself under Sakuya's power? For that matter... The duel should definitively be over now... but again, Sakuya felt nothing... had her master annulled the system without telling anyone? No... She could still feel herself bound to the spellcard contract...

To make matters worse, Alice was proving especially dangerous. Her wild, barely controlled blasts of enormous magical energy sprayed wildly over the forest, withering trees and grass alike as they struck, the air filling with smoke as Sakuya struggled to dodge the witch's unusually intense assault. Why wasn't the puppeteer using her dolls? She'd invested so much into crafting and training with them... though seeing her fight now, Alice's power was far beyond what Sakuya had thought her capable of... her magic rivaled that of Sakuya's mistress... perhaps even matching the young mistress's in addition. If she had the control she normally displayed, Sakuya would doubtless be dead... instead, the forest around Marisa's former abode was dying in her place.

Sakuya began to cough against the smoky residue, and stopped time to clear her lungs and eyes. Alice's next blast nearly hit her as she dashed aside... Sakuya looked around, her worry increasing drastically when she saw that the world was still moving... at a reduced speed, yes, but there was no doubt her power was being drained badly. She called on the full power of a spellcard to pull her through, unsure she'd be able to dodge much longer. She coughed badly, nearly getting hit, before finally managing to declare the spellcard properly.

"Illusion sign: Killing Doll!" Sakuya flung out some knives, coughing as she did so, and directed them at Alice... she was easily surrounded... there was no way to escape now.

"Hah! Got you!"

Alice suddenly seemed to stop dodging, and Sakuya felt a strange weight on her legs... something pulled them together. Sakuya looked down and saw Medicine embracing her legs like a lost child, grinning widely as she looked up at Sakuya's face and spoke... Sakuya felt the spellcard contract take hold... she... she had lost?

"Now now... we can't have any of that! The life of a doll is sacred, you see." A searing pain began spreading its way through Sakuya's legs, as she spared just a glance for Alice as she fell the short distance to the ground, the fully concealing clothes she had been wearing now shredded... Sakuya saw now the terrible blisters and rashes all over the magician's body... she turned her attention swiftly back to the agony that had already spread to her hips as the doll youkai clambered up Sakuya, wicked nails cutting tiny holes in her clean uniform, Sakuya tried to shove Medicine off, but as she touched the young girl, her hands felt like they caught fire... a sensation that crawled up her arms, even as the agony in her legs became numbness...

Sakuya tried to stop time, but nothing at all happened... she coughed badly, not only from the smoke that she now realized had been blocking her power over time somehow, but from the pain in her chest causing her diaphragm to spasm. Medicine continued her climb now, as Sakuya's arms locked, fully extended in pain. The maid struggled to move, but her body simply wouldn't respond, apart from sharp jerks of her head as her neck slowly lost feeling as Medicine grabbed it, finally pulling herself up to see Sakuya face to face.

"Don't worry, you won't look quite as bad as them. Different tools for different purposes, you know." Medicine said before exhaling a gust that stung Sakuya's eyes... she gasped at the pain, causing her throat and nose to burn as the poison filled them... Then her lungs... She stubbornly clung to consciousness, not willing to admit defeat.

"Now then. I do believe Alice, Patchouli and I were running low on tea. Do fix us up some more." Medicine said as she glided back to the table. Sakuya wanted to tell her to shove off, that she hadn't won yet... That Sakuya would return Patchouli as the mistress had wished... that she was due a rematch. But when she spoke, she realized what had happened to Patchouli and Alice... why they had been acting so oddly... why 'they' had 'abducted' Medicine.

For what what came from Sakuya's lips weren't words of defiance. As her voice spoke them, they broke her spirit, piercing her to the core of her very identity... betraying everything she was...

"Of course, my mistress."

* * *

_**The Human Village**_

Keine was still worried after her latest lesson. The children knew something was wrong, Keine was sure. They had paid unusually careful attention during the lesson. No passed notes, whispered conversations, or doodling... no complaining, no whining... they had even actively involved themselves in the lessons, asking for clarifications. She had only been gone a short time, but the change was almost complete. This doubtless had quite a bit to do with the recent casualties among them... the class was nearly a third smaller. When she had asked the parents, many were simply keeping their children within arms reach at all times, while the rest were in mourning.

There were far more youkai about in the human village, even during the day, which did a lot to explain the extra caution. Humans and youkai were working together to find Satori... of course, just as many youkai were using the excuse to get adventurous youths alone for a free meal, and no small number of youkai exterminators were using a similar ploy to do their duties or train.

As a result, the tension in the village was inescapable. Parents were high-strung, youkai were on edge, and children were listening to their elders with a newfound patience. Thankfully, it seemed some were attempting to diffuse the situation. Keine spotted one now.

"Hello again, Mima. Is everything going alright?"

"The situation's dire, of course... I wish I knew more about this Satori... truth works better than lies at keeping those living here safe, after all. Most youkai aren't to be trusted, after all. All Remilia was willing to tell me was that Satori had thwarted her, with no details as to how."

"You're confused about how she stopped Remilia when she couldn't even defeat Cirno?" Keine prompted. It was a question she'd been expecting to hear a lot, lately. It seemed most of the hunters had gone after the ice fairy to see how dangerous Satori was by comparison, and the obvious conclusion was always drawn; she was weak, so Satori must be as well. Surprisingly few took the next logical step and pondered how such a weak being had drawn Remilia's hate, perhaps assuming it a whim of the childish vampire.

Mima nodded. "I suspect Remilia was deliberately downplaying Satori's abilities, but without knowing how much, it's hard to properly warn people away."

"Well, Akyuu might know more, but satori have the ability to read the hearts of others with their third eye. It's caused no end of trouble before, so Satori likely just foiled Remilia by saying an inopportune truth." Keine had been very interested in satori once she had learned some tantalizing tidbits of their history... She had wondered why they were sent underground and delved into the rest of their history. In hindsight, not a great idea... Informative, yes, but not particularly inspiring... And things hadn't gotten any better for them after they'd gone underground, from what she could find out from the occasional earth spider that found itself on the surface.

"That would do it... and of course a fairy wouldn't have any fantastic schemes to foil." Mima laughed, seeming to dissolve the tension quite a lot with just that. "Well, that's easy enough to warn people away from. Perhaps they'll even start being more honest, eh?" Keine couldn't help but smile, herself.

"We can hope, right?" Keine was surprised at how well Mima seemed to be making friends. She had been worried that the increased tensions between youkai and humans would cause Mima trouble despite her good intentions, but she seemed to be getting along just fine. Keine let out a light chuckle despite herself before continuing.

"It's a shame Satori's not so well known. I mean, no one would be getting themselves killed going after Yuuka." Keine recalled how much trouble she had had convincing people that the Garden of the Sun was among the very worst places to hold a picnic, but it had been worth the effort.

Keine was about to continue, but noticed the tension in the air was higher than ever... looking to Mima, she saw the ghost's face frozen in an expression of panic, looking around terrified.

"What's wrong, Mima?" Concern crept into Keine's voice as she spoke. The cheerful conversation already felt darker.

"She's... here?"

"Hm? No, she hasn't been to the village for a few days. Stay out of the Garden of the Sun, though... it's a big sunflower field she lives in. Something big was going on there recently, it sounds like, but things seem to have settled back down again. A real nasty piece of business, that one."

"You have... -no-... idea."

"I've heard the stories of torture, the gruesome murders she's committed... I'm well aware of her danger... and thanks to my efforts, so is the rest of the village. I'd meant to warn you earlier, but it slipped my mind... my apologies."

Mima's composure threatened to break completely as she spoke "Does she... come here often?"

"Only rarely. Usually she stays in her flower field. Just stay out of her hair and she'll leave you alone." Keine was calm, though a bit confused at Mima's reaction... Perhaps the ghost had simply only heard part of the cautionary tale Keine had spread around the village.

"Right... good. I'll just... do that." Mima was regaining her composure swiftly now. Keine grew relieved... it was a good thing she'd managed to warn Mima... Even a ghost likely wouldn't be able to escape Yuuka easily if caught unawares.

"Glad to hear it. Take care, and let me know if you need my help with anything." Keine waved to the ghost as she walked away.

"Oh, I will! Don't worry."

* * *

_**Senkai**_

Satori, having committed the details of the 'dream' deep in her memory, was finishing waking up... The events of the past few days seemed to vanish almost as easily as the blood on her clothes did with a bit of magic. The strain was getting to be too great... The constant tension, the high emotions, the constant worries that assailed her from every direction... she missed her quiet life in Chireiden, simply tending to her pets, reading, and writing.

With a sigh, she turned her attention to the others in Senaki. Udonge was just waking, herself, and Miko was back, and... oh no-

Satori rushed towards Miko's barely conscious form, in the center of her dojo. One look at her was enough to tell anyone that she'd had a rough time, sporting several terribly bruises. Satori, of course, learned far more from the look. Miko's dizzied gaze failed to focus on Satori, and her memories of the past few hours were blurry, distorted by the concussion she was sporting... her current thoughts muddied through a fog and an incessant ringing that was already beginning to get on Satori's nerve. Even so, it was clear enough that she had gone to Gensokyo and met Byakuren... and a demon. And Satori... had such a large bounty?

Satori winced. Miko's mind wasn't terribly clear on... well, anything, right now. But Miko knew now... and Satori was more and more sure that Miko would be able and willing to claim the bounty. Miko may defeat Remilia afterward or perhaps even coerce her into sparing Satori. She couldn't take the risk that things would turn out so well, though... it wasn't just her own life at stake. Satori suspected that Miko would recover without any treatment... and truly hoped she did.

"Udonge! Grab Eirin! We need to go!" Satori called out as the rabbits muddled, sleepy thoughts followed her into the room. _Huh? What time is it? Where am I?_

There was no time for this... Satori sent a magical jolt of electricity at Udonge. Both of them cringed in pain, but Udonge was fully awake, now.

"Eirin! Right!" Udonge rushed off to gather her master while Satori considered what to do... Where they could bring Eirin to have some quiet to heal her...

Udonge quickly returned, Eirin's pain jolting Satori out of her thoughts.

"Where... um. Where -are- we going?" Udonge finally thought to ask.

"A place few others go..." Satori said. She opened the gate, and gestured Udonge through. Once the rabbit and her master were through, Satori followed, giving another sad glance at Miko. She'd finally found someone who could begin to understand her, even if just a little... and Remilia's pride had put a wall between them. Satori sighed and stepped through the gate after nearly a minute, closing it behind her, sure that at last, she'd finally be able to trust those around her again.

* * *

_**Human Village, Soon After**_

"Come on, Futo! You know she won't be mad, unless maybe you sweep this under the rug like you seem to intend on doing." Tojiko was growing exasperated. If she could just get Futo to return to Senkai, they'd have another shot at capturing Satori. Unfortunately, between Futo's drunkenness at the time and the spellcard duel with Satori's conditions, Tojiko was having a hard time convincing Futo.

"'Twould be only proper for myself to avoid intrusion afore my slight hath been pardoned." Futo repeated her argument stubbornly.

"And I keep trying to tell you to seek forgiveness instead of waiting for it to come around." Tojiko wished she had Miko's skill with words. She tried thinking of another angle to approach the problem from, but was distracted by the green haired ghost approaching them. Sporting a single ghost tail as opposed to Tojiko's two, she approached the pair, curious.

"Sorry to intrude, but what seems to be the problem? Perhaps I could help?"

Futo and Tojiko looked at each other angrily, then both began to speak at once, only to stop and stare at each other again.

"I can't help you if you don't tell me what the problem is. Come now... tell little ol' Mima your problems, won't you?" The single-tailed ghost prompted. The tension between the two fell, and Tojiko calmly explained the situation.

"I pulled Futo over to a friend's place while she'd had a bit too much to drink. Now she's all worried that she unintentionally slighted our friend while drunk, and refuses to go back to make amends, insisting on waiting for permission to 'intrude' on our friend's home."

"Do not speak of the crown prince in such a familiar manner! We hath no such privilege after the offenses we've brought upon her person." Futo's response raised Mima's eyebrows a bit...

"If you're worried about giving offense, why don't you simply offer a gift as an apology? It's not so intrusive if you're there to deliver something to her, right?" Mima suggested. Futo considered this, and after a brief pause, replied.

"Mayhap the gift might soften the insult. Thereafter, I could offer my apology in person and offer to make amends for the offense." Tojiko let out a relieved sigh, then turned to Mima.

"Thanks for your help. It really is the sort of thing I'd like to sort out sooner rather than later. Now, what sort of gift might she appreciate..."

"Hard to go wrong with some sake around here, from what I've learned. Besides, what better way to apologize for being drunk than to offer a drink to your host?"

"I know a great many, but one must begin somewhere. I shall ask the crown prince what a more fitting gift might be to forgive the intrusion." Futo nodded.

"Well, we're off, then. Take care,.. Mima, was it, right? We folk need to stick together, right?" Tojiko chuckled, twirling her ghost legs. Mima responded in kind, laughing lightly and whipping her tail around. The tension in the air had temporarily dispersed.

"Well, let's go look for some quality drinks then, eh, Futo? Who knows, if things go really well we might even be able to share them with Miko!" Tojiko laughed and waved at Mima as she and Futo, much cheered, headed off.

* * *

_**Meanwhile, in Chireiden**_

Satori stepped out of the portal to Senkai, and had just managed to close it before being tackled heavily by Okuu. She felt ribs crack at the impact and skidded across the floor, where Orin pinned her down before she could even move.

_Hah! Got her!_ Orin's thoughts were full of hostility towards the being under her feet... and Okuu shared the thoughts.

_We did it?_ "Yeah! Great job, Orin!"

"Mmphhh." Udonge was bound and gagged right next to Satori, Eirin's body beside her, mere feet away from Satori. _What's going on? This place isn't safe or peaceful at all!_ Her thoughts continued along these lines for quite some time.

"What are you two doing?" Satori asked, even as she started to read their hearts.

"Nice try! Can't trick us, though!" _If she were -really- Satori, she'd already know!_ Orin was confident that the creature pinned under her right now was an imposter, and Satori's initial confusion had only further bolstered that belief. As Satori opened her mouth to explain, Orin roughly shoved a gag in it and tied her up with surprising swiftness... It seemed she and Okuu had been preparing for this for some time... what had given them that false impression, though...?

"Kanako'll be glad to know we got the imposter." Orin was cheerful as she hoisted Satori's light frame over her shoulder as Okuu carried Udonge and Eirin.

_Oh, right, Kanako! She was the one... who... hm._ "Who's Kanako, again?"

Orin rolled her eyes. "She's the one who gave you that power, remember?" Okuu shook her head in return. _I think I'd remember something like that._

"Never mind. She's the one Satori told us to listen to before she left. Then a few days ago, she came back down and warned us that there was an imposter of miss Satori running around, and that she might try and come back here through her room." Orin had given this explanation countless times before... indeed, it seemed these two had been waiting in Satori's study for a long while... several days, perhaps? They had delegated some of their work after getting ahead on it... they were determined to be the ones that brought the imposter to justice. Having done so, they were eager to get back to work.

"Oh... that's right. So... what's with these two?" Okuu looked pointedly at the lunarians she carried.

"I don't know... Kanako said the imposter might bring some others... I guess she meant these two? We'll find out once we contact her." _Satori'll be so proud we helped!_

Satori's muffled protests weren't particularly convincing, and all she earned for her trouble was a kick from Okuu, who thankfully was without her full fusion control setup... Satori suspected Okuu's concrete foot would have broken her in two. As Okuu kicked though, she voiced her doubt...

"Just... checking, though. We -are- sure this is the imposter, right? What if this is actually Satori?" Okuu was decidedly unsure about treating someone that looked like Satori so rough.

"Satori would have sent us a message through Kanako if she were coming herself, though. And besides, you heard what she said when she got here... if this was really Satori, she'd have known what was going on before you even managed to tackle her." Orin's explanation seemed to convince Okuu.

While Orin's overconfidence in Satori's skill was flattering, those much-lauded skills weren't doing her a lot of good right now. She had remembered a few things that could help when she had spoken with Suika... and one of them just might help her get out of this. She closed her eyes and began to focus...

"Careful, she's trying something!" Orin threw Satori to the ground, but she kept her focus... her body started to spread out... she was nearly finished...

Then Okuu kicked Satori hard in the head, and everything went black.

* * *

_**Human Village**_

Tojiko stood at the crack she preferred to use to enter Senkai, with Futo right next to her. Tojiko was idly swinging the bag containing the quality sake they had purchased.

"All ready for this? Just remember; I'll have you covered if anything goes wrong." Finally... -finally- Futo was ready to go back to Senkai. Once there, Futo would see Satori, and Tojiko could get her revenge for her earlier humiliation. Vicariously, through Futo and Miko, but that would be fine. The money would be a nice touch, too, and she had no doubts that Miko would help subdue Satori once the bounty was revealed to her. Clever of the youkai, keeping that secret, however she had managed to do so.

"I am ready... but the lack of care shown to our gift concerns me. Please treat it with the respect due its recipient."

"Yeah, yeah..." Tojiko steadied the bag and handed it over to Futo. "You can carry it then. I'll go ahead and bring us there." Tojiko grinned... her moment was at hand. She reached through the gate and stepped into Senkai, pulling along a still rather reluctant Futo.

Unfortunately for Tojiko, there was no sign of the purple haired mind reader. Even more unfortunately, there -was- a badly injured and drained Miko laying on the ground.

"Crown prince! What is the matter? Who did this to you?" Futo ran up to Miko, carefully putting the bag down. Miko was clearly confused... she almost didn't seem to recognize Futo for a few moments.

"I... I'm fine, I think. Just... a bit dizzy."

"What happened?" Tojiko floated up beside her husband-turned-friend.

"Byakuren... Satori... Demon... guard. Satori... lying... Demon..." Miko's confusion was clear... far moreso than whatever she was trying to utter.

"Calm down, please. We'll get you treated, first..." Tojiko comforted Miko as the former crown prince lost consciousness completely.

"Alarming tidings indeed. We must consult and inform the others!" Futo declared.

"What happened, though? Satori, Demons, and Byakuren? We aren't exactly welcome at the temple, no one knows where Satori is, and I'd rather die than consort with demons." Futo gave her a raised eyebrow in response.

"Die again. You know what I mean. Come on, let's find someone who can heal her, then she can clear this up. Perhaps Seiga knows a way." Tojiko suggested, but Futo seemed unsure.

"Mayhap she doth know such a remedy, but I would rather we not find ourselves in debt to her."

"Well... That's true enough... but that head wound looks really severe... We'll have to take what we can get." Tojiko was filling with rage. Not only had Satori humiliated Tojiko, but now Miko as well... and with the help of demons, it seemed. Her vengeance crackled... Satori would pay.

* * *

_**Chireiden, soon after**_

Satori woke some time later. She was still bound and gagged, but now with the additional burden of a throbbing headache. She strained her head to look around the room... it was familiar... yes, this was the room that Kanako had had her small branch shrine installed. Satori could sense another in the room... she rotated with some effort and turned her gazes upon her guest, hovering on the side opposite Kanako's shrine, where Satori herself was.

Mamizou was cleverly disguised as Kanako, watching Satori carefully as she waited. Satori could wait, herself... she'd rather learn the full story now rather than later, after all. Despite her predicament, her nature urged her to learn just what had happened.

The tanuki had hidden her ears under a hood; she had explained its presence to Satori's pets as a new trend on the surface, and they had believed her... Mamizou's tail, meanwhile, was hidden under her skirt... The disguise would be difficult to see through were Satori limited to normal senses. What was she doing down here, though? Well, she was after the bounty, no doubt... she was already coming up with ways to spend it.

_Huh. She woke up sooner than I hoped..._ Mamizou hovered, her mind poised to react to anything Satori did, though lacking confidence that Satori could do anything at all. Of course, Satori was still reading, deeper and deeper.

It seemed the tanuki had bribed some information out of a tengu who had little confidence in Kanako's various schemes… she had learned that Kanako had contacted Satori's pets in the underground and was waiting for them to deliver her to Kanako, under the idea that Satori was an imposter. Mamizou had infiltrated her way into the underground by sneaking through the geyser center on the mountain.

The heat had caused her discomfort, even with warding spells... no surprise to Satori, of course... The blazing hell lived up to its name. Still, the tanuki had persevered, and managed to get herself to Kanako's shrine and wait there in her disguise. It had been a long time... it felt like weeks, but Satori doubted that. Eventually, though, Satori's pets had delivered Satori's "imposter" to Mamizou, who had told them to go and return to work. Mamizou had immediately sent a message to her good friend, who had been very upset over something, and she was on her way... that was a while ago... Satori quickly realized who Mamizou was thinking of.

Nue was on her way.

Suddenly, Satori didn't have time to wait. She could defeat Nue easily enough, if they fought... one free arm and a second was enough... But Mamizou had personally checked that Satori had no free arms at all... nor any room in her mouth to speak. There would be no fight if Nue came now; only a murder. Her fear must have shown on her face if not her suddenly renewed struggles, if Mamizou's comments indicated anything.

"Seems you realize what's in store for you. Shame I can't do it myself." _She'd kill me for trying... Wants to do the deed herself to make sure this Satori isn't -actually- an imposter. Seems sure she'll know._

"Mrrrmph."

"Yeah, if you think all that groaning and such is going to get me to loosen your bonds, think again. " _I may be a bit curious, but there aren't a whole lot of questions that are worth that much money._

Satori's mind raced. Mamizou didn't have a very good sense of time here in the underground, so she wasn't sure how long ago she had contacted Nue... Any moment now, Nue could step in the room, and that would be the end. And with Mamizou watching her so intently, she couldn't turn to mist and escape her bonds... it was too obvious... If she were knocked out again to stop it... Nue would see to it that Satori never woke up again.

She might be able to delay the inevitable with the shinigami's power... extending the distance Nue or mamizou would need to go to reach her... but it was far too draining and risky... and didn't solve her problem, either. She needed a distraction... anything. Even a few seconds of Mamizou's attention being diverted would be enough to escape... but she couldn't just wait for a distraction... odds were good that Nue would arrive first.

She looked around, desperately.

"You're not going to find anything. Just go ahead and sleep. It should all be over soon." _And I'll be rich._ Mamizou allowed herself a smile. _Wouldn't have managed without my connections... Sometimes its good to have friends in high places._

Friends in... high... places. "Mrphmrph." Satori uttered something, remembering just where she was bound. but Mamizou just laughed in response.

Satori did something she wasn't exactly used to, and she hoped it wasn't an offense.

She prayed fervently for divine assistance... from Kanako. Hoped devoutly that the god would come down... would see her imposter... and would give Satori a chance to escape.

**Here again... I suppose they must have found Sato- Who is that?** "Who are you?" Kanako's booming voice was directed firmly at Mamizou, who was clearly not expecting this turn of events.

The tanuki's ears grew to their normal size and popped off the hat, her tail returning to normal as well at the shock.

_You've got to be kidding me! Now of all times?_ "Just... someone passing through... Really... interesting architecture here." Mamizou realized her strengths didn't exactly lie in combat... unfortunately for her, Kanako realized this as well.

"And you took my form... where I told them to bring Satori to me... In the middle of a palace everyone takes great pains to -avoid-... And you expect me to believe it's just a coincidence?" Kanako approached Mamizou, looming impressively over the trickster.

"No! I mean, Satori's right behind you now! On your shrine! She's getting away!"

Indeed, Satori was. She had already turned into mist, leaving behind her ropes and gag, and was nearly out of the room. Kanako reacted swiftly, not even checking if it were true... She firmly grasped Mamizou with both hands, while calling a wind to her. It swept Satori back into the room, then whipped her misty form about Kanako. Meanwhile, Mamizou was trying to break free with no success... and -now- Kanako took the opportunity to notice Satori's mist form caught amidst the winds.

"So she was. Good of you to notice and tell me. Unfortunately, you didn't answer my question," Kanako slammed Mamizou into the ground, the wind still whistling around her. Satori was becoming dizzy... unused to Suika's mist form, she also found it extremely painful to be separated as she was now. She fell out of mist form, returning to normal in a dizzy heap... Well, at least she was free of the bonds, but the wind shifted direction suddenly downward, and kept Satori pressed firmly to the ground. Kanako looked out of the corner of her eye and Satori...

"I'll deal with you soon. First..." She turned her attention back to Mamizou, though the winds kept Satori firmly in place. "I need to find out just who decided they'd try to despoil the image of a goddess..."

"I didn't mean to! I was just going to get out of here soon... just needed to borrow your form for a bit!" _What's taking her so long? _

"So you could claim the bounty that I'd captured... Clever." **Too bad we need the money.** Kanako turned to Satori.

"Do you have a prison or something we could store her in?" **I can't just let her go.**

Satori nodded with great effort, her head and body still pinned to the ground by the howling wind.

**Then I'm going to release the wind. Don't try to run away... we need to talk.** Satori nodded again, and the winds ceased.

"You aren't just going to let her go, are you? Do you -know- how much-" Mamizou was quieted by a fierce gaze. _Yeah, she knows. She needs the money... good... maybe I can work out a deal. _

"I do. She understands that she is my prisoner... as you are." **Lead us to somewhere we can lock her up.**

Satori nodded, still nauseous from being blown apart as mist, and led the pair to some guest quarters. Mamizou was thrown in and the door secured shut.

Kanako turned to Satori... "As for you, I'm sorry, but" **you're coming with me. We need the money too much...**

"I may have an alternate solution. Follow me." Satori started walking off. **If this is a trap, she's simply going to anger me...**

"I would hate to anger you." **Well, she's been honest, I suppose... honest to a fault, but-  
**

"Thank you. Though I'm afraid I haven't been living up to my standards as much as I wish I could." Satori let out a deep sigh. **What does she mean?**

"Nevermind... everyone makes mistakes and betrays their own principles time to time... even I'm no exception... I hope I don't find myself in a position where I need to lie ever again... but if things continue as they are, I may need to do just that." **Now she's just teasing me...**

"It must seem that way, I'm sure. Don't worry though... if I need anything from you, I'll ask..." **And I'd help because...?**

"Here we are." Satori stopped at the door and opened it. Kanako was clearly not expecting what she saw. Heaping mounds of precious metals, salt, and rare elements filled the room, neatly organized by type.

"What... Where did you-" **Get all this? There's unthinkable wealth here!**

"These are left behind in the Hell of Blazing Fires when a soul is purified there... It falls to the bottom of the Hell, and the hell crows tend to gather most of it absentmindedly, though I need to send them down for the less shiny things like salt."

**Isn't this cursed, then, if it came from evil spirits?**

"As I said, it was collected from... perhaps I should put this another way... it seems you have little knowledge of how the reincarnation cycle works." **No need to rub it in.**

"Well, think of it like a butterfly shedding its cocoon... or like purifying an ore... The 'precious materials' are separated from the vengeful spirits by the various hells, allowing the spirits to return to their next life without any attachments mucking up their new life."

"And... this... this is all yours?"

"Yes... The hell ravens and Blaze cats and other inhabitants of the hell care little for such baubles in general, and the higher management of the hells have no need for these currencies either" **If she has this much... why not just buy off anyone who comes after her?**

"Don't be ridiculous... if I paid everyone who came after me what Remilia was offering, these valuables would become completely worthless. And Remilia herself won't be satisfied with a mere payment." **Then... why show me this? **

"Because you need it. You're welcome to take what you need, within reason... after all, much of this has come since the hell reopened... I doubt it would have been nearly as productive without the power of the Yatagarasu supporting it."

"I... I don't know how to thank you. Are you really sure this is alright, though? I heard hell was having budget problems."

"This isn't the currency they deal with. Its worth no more to them than it is to the spirits who leave it behind. I ask that you keep the source of this wealth quiet... it would do neither of us any good for this to become public. The underground already has a great deal of envy towards me; in a sense, I control the generation of of wealth down here." **So that's why they hate-**

"Rest assured, they also hate me for my power. But if they knew the true amount of wealth I had here, I suspect they'd try to invade... and that would be disastrous... the blaze within the inferno might be set free... the yama might get involved... I don't need to tell you what would happen after that."

"Of course not. Well... in light of this... I suppose I don't really have a reason to bring you to Remilia, do I?"

"That is why I offered the money you need, yes. Now, if you don't mind, I've something to ask. Do you or Suwako have a shrine in the netherworld?"

"No... There's not a lot of faith to be had from the dead, we've heard, and passage there is difficult..."

"I think it would be a good idea for Suwako or 'Moriya' to have a shrine there. I have a plan." **I hope it turns out better than mine tend to.**

"Yours turn out well enough... but yes, I suppose there's a bit more at stake here. I'll try to solve the Mishaguji problem-" **Doesn't she have enough on her plate already?**

"Well, suffice it to say I might be able to solve your problem incidentally. I'm afraid I can't risk telling you any more than that. Another question, quickly... How is Aya doing?"

**That was... random. She's doing fine, it appears.** Kanako's heart revealed that Hatate was still receiving useful information from Aya... and much of that information was now Satori's as well.

"Good. Well, I believe we're done, now. Try to keep your fellow goddesses from getting out of control, alright? Meanwhile, I'll do my part to ensure Eirin manages to hide us from the demons in time. One last thing."

Kanako turned around as she was leaving. **What?**

"I don't appreciate you turning my pets against me. You nearly destroyed the refuge of my sanity. I'll ask you not to do so again."

Kanako nodded, deeply apologetic. **I had no idea they were so important to her...** then Kanako left. Satori began the walk back to the room Orin and Okuu had taken Udonge and Eirin in at Mamizou's request...

It was time to fix the brain of the moon.

* * *

_Author's notes: Well, It's a bit later than I had hoped. I've been busy, of course, but I'm going to do my best to avoid any serious schedule slip. I wanted to tie up a few more of the loose ends here and there._

_I've found that I enjoy writing the characters into a situation, and seeing how things turn out. When I started writing the Sakuya and Byakuren fights, and Satori prisoner scenes in this chapter, I had no real idea what would happen until it did. Obviously, it turned out better for some than for some others._

_I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! And thank you, readers and reviewers; You motivate me to continue.  
_


	16. Chapter 16

_**Chireiden**_

Satori couldn't help but feel relief... she was finally back home. Of course, she wasn't finished with her task just yet, but the idea that there was a home to return to was encouraging, especially in light of recent events. First, she had to find Orin and Okuu... an easy enough task, with the help of her other pets. Ah... actually, perhaps she'd better find Udonge first. The minds of the pets on break running through the halls easily guided her to the unusual guest, currently in another of the rarely used guest rooms. As she went along, she clarified that the imposter business was finished, and received a brief acknowledgement from each newly informed pet.

Satori calmly approached Udonge and Eirin, who were both thoroughly bound. Udonge was going through a difficult decision. _Should I... try to phase away? I really hope it doesn't come to that._ As Satori continued to approach, she searched Udonge's heart for just what that might mean... and was rather surprised. It seemed the rabbit could just... stop interacting with the world physically. She'd been rather traumatized last time she used it, though, and Satori knew that Udonge had to be mentally stable to perform the hyypnotic surgery on Eirin. In fact, Udonge was on the verge of doing it, though it seemed suicidal in her mind.

"There you are... Don't worry, I'll free you..." Satori approached and shaped a blade of magic to cut Udonge and Eirin free.

"Thanks... I wonder how they got so good at tying bonds... I can't imagine that's a skill that comes up-" _very often._ Udonge was clearly relieved she didn't need to use her last resort.

"They were training for such an occasion, based on some false information... It's a bit of a long story. Suffice it to say we should have the peace we need to work, now. As soon as you tend Eirin's more physical poisons, we can begin trying to repair her psyche." Udonge was about to speak, but Satori interrupted her.

_What about supplies? I'm not sure we have enough, and we're down here..._ "I have a healthy supply of medicines... There are a great many pets here, you see... I've even found some of the medicine helps myself on occasion. I suspect it will suffice. Hmm... The way there is complicated, but I need to make my rounds and let my pets know..." Satori considered aloud.

_But won't youkai medicine harm a human?_

"Ah, I suppose so. Even so, I'm sure you'll be able to fix something up for Eirin with it, knowing what you do."

_Got a map, then?_ "If you have a-"

"Yes, good idea. I'm going to implant it with hypnosis..."

_Don't you just have a -map-? On paper?_

"Why would I need a physical map when I've got such a fine mental one? Besides, this way I don't need to worry about it getting stolen or lost."

_Of course. _"Well, hurry then, please."

Satori conjured some hypnotic patterns, and felt the rabbit youkai consciously lower her defenses... She was mentally open... and Satori was nearly caught off guard at the amount of mental static she had. Her guilt over the lunar war... and now the Medicine situation... her worries for her master, her shattered lunar pride, her concern for the other surviving lunar rabbit... all of this and more washed over Satori. She hadn't been expecting the rabbit to be holding quite so much in, and nearly lashed out instinctively. She quickly grew worried that Reisen might not be stable enough for the hypnosis surgery they were going to perform, but knew that bringing it up now wouldn't be likely to help.

Satori herself managed to remain calm, however. With Reisen now firmly fixated on the lights Satori had made, she first made a psychic beacon of sorts to clear up much of that static. With Udonge's mind now a bit clearer, Satori shifted them into a detailed three dimensional map of Chireiden, and guided Reisen's defenseless mind to memorize it, a task that went surprisingly quickly. Finished, she dissolved the illusion.

"All finished. You should have a good idea where we are, now?"

"I thought you said people never visited here?" _So... why are there dozens upon dozens of guest rooms and the like?_

"The Yama -may- have overestimated the amount of visitors that would be staying here."

"They don't-" _See much use, then?_

"Without scouring my memories, I believe they've seen three 'guests' from outside Chireiden before today. But to answer your question, they do see quite a lot of use. My pets tend to use them for privacy and as a sort of maternity ward. Don't worry. Spend a night in one and they'll realize its occupied and leave it be after the first night."

"Oh... I... thanks." _She loves to hear herself talk, doesn't she?_

"I feel it's only fair to put forth as many thoughts as those around me. Though I suppose I have been leading this conversation. In any case, take Eirin to one of the guest rooms, and I'll meet you down there later. I need to lower this high alert everyone is on before they just catch you and tie you back up."

_What... no threats against life and limb as payment for staying here?_

"I like to think I'm a better hostess than Remilia, Udonge." Satori grinned as Udonge hurried off, ashamed she'd even compared the two.

* * *

_**In the halls of Chireiden**_

"There you two are. Good to see you've been keeping busy. Thanks for dealing with the imposter situation."

_Lady Satori! Wait... maybe the imposter escaped somehow._

"No, I'm not the escaped imposter. I spoke with Kanako earlier. Now, you two should get back to work; I imagine it's been busy, but it's likely to pick up even more, soon." Especially if Satori and Udonge couldn't fix Eirin in time.

Orin nodded, and Okuu looked relieved. _Whew. I was really worried I was actually kicking Satori for a bit there._

Satori rubbed the back of her head, where a bruise was forming.'. Yeah... Okuu hadn't held back at all. She channeled a healing spell to tend it now, before she forgot... didn't need it swelling and giving her yet another headache. Orin looked curious at this. _How did she get injured...?_

"Oh... just..." Satori really didn't feel comfortable lying to her pets... even distorting the truth felt wrong... If she couldn't even live up to her own philosophy when surrounded by loyal friends, she'd be even more of a hypocrite than everyone she spoke to.

"Alright, fine. Sorry for nearly letting you deceive yourselves, but the imposter didn't actually take my form."

"What?" _Wait... then that means..._

"Yes... Okuu, your kick hurt."

_Oh no! I didn't mean to!_ "I thought it was an imposter!" _Orin even said so!_ Okuu's thoughts were flooded with guilt.

But Orin's guilt was far greater. After all, she was the one who had misjudged her master and given Okuu the all clear. _I shouldn't have... said anything..._ "I'm so sorry, master. I'm so, so-"

"It's not your fault you were tricked... in fact, it seems you still don't realize who the imposter was."

_It must have been impersonating Kanako, then? She... she tried to turn us against Satori! Wait... but that was the imposter..._ Okuu pondered, confused, while Orin spoke.

"Well, it was Kanako's deception that made us attack you... so... she's the obvious guess..." _But there must be something more to it or Satori wouldn't be correcting us._

"Well, the Kanako who deceived you was the real one. I've since spoken with her, as I've mentioned, and that should be cleared up... she should be reliable again. The imposter is the Kanako that you gave me to. Her intentions were... not quite as noble."

Orin and Okuu both grew very worried.

"As I've said, it's resolved. Please, calm down, you're making me anxious." _Well, if she says its alright..._ her pets' concerns turned to shame and relief.

"Now, you have some work to do. I just needed to clear this up. I trust you'll inform the others?"

Orin nodded, and Okuu... well... _Huh? Did she say something?_

"Good. One more thing before I go. If you see anyone down here you don't recognize until I remove this order, attack and subdue them immediately, and let me know. You two are likely the only ones who could, so please don't spread this order around."

"Expecting more intruders?" _Why are there so many visitors...?_

"Yes. Mamizou contacted Nue Houjuu, and I suspect the latter will come to Mamizou's aid. She'll likely look like a rather nondescript fellow pet, but you two know... well, Orin knows everyone here. Now, I need to be left alone for a time. I need to concentrate, but if something critically important comes up, I'll be in my study."

* * *

_**Satori's Study in Chireiden**_

Satori sat down in her chair... how long had it been? Several weeks now... and all she had was the beginnings of a plan... one that she wasn't even sure would work. Another step she had to prepare for would be slipping into the Moriya shrine. She needed the most up to date information Hatate had obtained, not just what Kanako deemed important. She shuddered at the thought of the torture she would witness once again, but she would do what she had to. If nothing else, she needed to ensure that she remained the mistress of Chireiden. If she lost her position over the blazing hells, far, far too many of her pets and its workers would follow her in exile... the fires would go unchecked, and disaster would follow.

First, Satori set up a number of spells... She couldn't count on her body remembering to breath, eat, or drink, so she cast some passive spells to sate her various physical needs. Her mind would have to be almost entirely rerouted to new functions to finish the calculations she needed.

So Satori began calculating. She gathered reams of paper, and used magic and ink to run dozens... hundreds... thousands of lines of math. She hypnotized herself into a deep trance, and thought only of math... numbers and variables swirled past her consciousness as her mind pieced together the complex puzzle. A specific date, time, location, room temperature and humidity, ambient light, air currents, magical flows of energy, the expected movements and positions of relevant people... these variables and more flooded her mind, her hypnosis and expertise directing the flow, slowly but surely assigning everything its place. Time passed... it must have, anyway. Satori's consciousness was buried beneath an ocean of numbers, listening carefully for any necessary interruptions... though it couldn't help but notice an uncanny resemblance between her altered mind and the mind of the kitsune she was emulating.

* * *

_**In a "Guest" room at Chireiden, days later**_

Mamizou looked around her cell. Comfortable though it was, with plenty of food, water, and comfortable furnishings... even some reading material, it had been made very clear she was a prisoner. She had tested the magical wards, but they had withstood her best efforts. Thankfully, she had an escape plan already on its way.

The door was tested from the outside, and Mamizou heard some angry voice as the wards held. Mamizou's rescuer-to-be interacted strangely with wards... but apparently, Satori knew this and had excluded anyone who didn't identify themselves to the wards from entering the room. Still, Mamizou was confident, and sure enough, a few moments later, her savior and best friend appeared at the now open door, a hell raven hopping on the ground near her.

"What kept you, Nue?"

"Hah. Hah." Nue was far from excited as she nudged the hell raven and it flew away.

"Shouldn't we kill it?" Mamizou asked... Nue's nonidentification wasn't terribly effective if you already knew her well and were expecting her to boot... Long before they'd parted ways, Mamizou had spent several centuries with a habit of greeting unknown people as Nue... it had caused her some trouble in Sado, but she was surprised the ease with which she was picking it up again, now that Nue was out and about again.

"She'd notice it was missing... besides, it'll forget about me in a few minutes. Idiot didn't think to ward against her own birds."

"Well, they were the ones who brought food, so..."

"Then she shouldn't have fed you. Whatever, it made my job easier. Now, I was given to understand you had her captured... How did you mess this one up." Nue gave her friend a seed of nonidentification and they left and walked through the halls.

"Hey, this time wasn't my fault. It was literal divine intervention that saved her life."

"Come again? The dog lives in a hell for a reason."

"Not that sort... Kanako Yasaka showed up at a really, -really- bad time... didn't take kindly to the fact that I'd taken her form... she threw me in here, Satori warded it up, and they went off... Seemed there was still tension there... I think they probably dueled over Satori's freedom."

"The way things have been going, they're probably conspiring to catch me."

"The way things have been going? I'd been meaning to ask about that... what -happened- to you? You look like you got hit by a train." Mamizou couldn't see Nue's injuries... the latter was far too prideful to show them. Of course, that didn't mean her movements didn't reveal the damage... her stride was uneven and strained.

"Like a what hit me?"

"A train... Very big, made of metal, moves very fast. You look like someone beat the life out of you. You look awful... get it yet?"

"Yes, yes, I get it. That'd be Byakuren's fault. Kicked me out after I saved her from that Shikaisen. Can you believe she wanted to spare -Miko's- life? Of all people, -Miko Toyosatomimi-!" Nue was indignant.

"I can, actually. Told you the hag was gutless. What can you expect? Once a human, always a human."

"Shame it doesn't work the other way around."

"I wonder about that. Not exactly a lot of non-humans become human..." Mamizou said as she considered Nue's words. They were true, of course... but Mamizou was familiar with almost an entire village where that had happened... she'd tried to reverse the process, but with no success. Most of the tanuki in Sado seemed to be, now and forever, humans, with but the merest inkling that they were ever anything else.

"Well?" Nue looked expectantly at Mamizou, awaiting a response. Mamizou was sure she'd missed the question.

"Well what?"

"Pay attention! We need to decide what to do next!"

"Oh! Well, I'd think getting out of here would be a good start. Without the element of surprise, I'm not finding the idea of taking on Satori in her home, surrounded by all her pets, a particularly good one."

"Hells... she's got to let her guard down sometime! If we stay around here, maybe we can find another opening!"

"I understand how much you hate Satori-" Nue glared at Mamizou. The tanuki stopped dead in her tracks and turned to face Nue's glare... And had to admit that no... maybe she didn't know the depths of that hatred. Nue's very form seemed to warp from it... Mamizou couldn't even move, so oppresive was Nue's presence. No, she -knew- she couldn't understand that level of hate. Perhaps no one could... not Nue... and not Satori.

"Alright, fine, I don't." Mamizou was forced to admit. "But you've got to face the facts... we're outnumbered, deep in hostile territory, -and- she's on guard. We aren't that good in a straight up fight, and I'm not sure we'll be able to blend in here..."

"Should be..." Nue muttered.

"What was that?"

"I -should- be better at fighting... at magic... and blending in... -everything-." Nue growled more loudly, though thankfully she had calmed herself.

"Well, you aren't. I'm not." Mamizou stated flatly as they rounded a corner and nearly bumped into Orin and Okuu. Nue recognized them immediately, but Mamizou had only heard of their reputations. It seemed they were on business, given the hell raven's bizarre feet and control rod, and the blaze cat's large number of vengeful spirits. Mamizou and Nue stood nervously as Satori's pets greeted them.

"It's been too long since you two were together... glad you finally came back!" Okuu spoke, waving to the pair and addressing the second part to Nue and awaiting a response.

"Oh... yes! I was just making sure everything is well." Nue responded, gesturing to Mamizou. Experience had told her that she was best off being vague and evasive until her observer locked into a specific perception, then to try and act in accordance with it to deflect suspicion. Presumably, they saw Nue and Mamizou as some fellow workers? Nue wasn't sure who else they'd expect to see down here.

"For shame, lady Satori! The first thing you do when your sister comes home is drag her near the fires? You know she never liked working too near them!" Orin lightly chastised Mamizou. Nue felt relieved... now that she knew whose part to play, she was confident she could. She'd been around Satori's sister a lot lately... ever since she had been accepted into the temple.

For her part, Mamizou recalled Satori's general personality, and was already adopting it, confidently stating with aloofness: "Well, if she doesn't get used to it now, she never will." Orin and Okuu looked a bit confused at the comment, and looked to Nue for her reply... she knew it had to be something Satori's sister would say...

But she... just couldn't think of it. How could her memory be this bad? She'd spent hundreds of hours watching... Koishi! That was her name! Koishi! She'd followed Koishi... studied her carefully in hopes of using her existence against her sister in some way... but now... all that study seemed fruitless... she just... couldn't remember... anything more. Had Koishi really done -nothing- in all that time? Said nothing?

"Well, that is... I should really start helping out, right? It was really rude of me to live here without working, right?" Nue stated, but apparently, she'd messed up. Coupled with something from Mamizou's comment from earlier, Satori's pets Orin and Okuu were now looking at eachother, suspicious... doubly so when they saw their suspicions were shared.

Nue realized they'd been found out, and before Satori's pets could turn back, Nue rushed at Orin, and Mamizou, so familiar with her friend's mindset, mirrored the attack against Okuu.

Nue impaled Orin with three of her wings, and the kasha looked at her new injuries in shock. Meanwhile, Mamizou slammed her entire body into Okuu... but had severely underestimated the weight of the hell raven and her nuclear armaments... and merely bounced off.

"Hey! Who are you? Wait... Satori warned us about people like you! We're supposed to stop you! Come on, Orin!" Okuu called out, and finally looked over to her friend, who was kneeling and clutching desperately at her grievous wounds. "Orin?"

"Get... them..." Orin commanded, and Okuu was in clear agreement. Unfortunately for her, Nue had extracted her wings from Orin and quickly stepped within Okuu's reach before thrusting her barbed wings at Okuu's left side, impaling her leg, arm, and torso. Mamizou regained her balance.

"Useless, aren't you?" Nue said jokingly to Mamizou. The tanuki was about to reply, but realized now that Orin hadn't been commanding her friend... Mamizou observed that the vengeful spirits had approached them... and several now launched themselves at Nue.

"Watch out!" Nue turned around just as the vengeful spirit slammed into her chest... there was no impact as the spirit entered her, but Nue felt sick... something wasn't right. She became enraged, wanted nothing more than to wring the neck of her cheating wife... that harlot! She'd travel to the ends of the earth to...

Wait... What wife...? Nue was confused at her rage. She wasn't married... and certainly not to the object of her hate. Oh, but she had been! Her wife had run off with some charmer, leaving Nue alone and destitute; the damned wife had stolen everything! Of course, the charmer had been easy enough to kill, but by going after the fellow, Nue had gotten herself caught and killed before she could extract vengeance on her cheating whore of a wife.

Nue was remembering now... she knew her life... and that wasn't so bad, except that it was over. What had she been doing before? Who was she? Ah, that's right... she had been a merchant... she looked at the others nearby.

"No... none of you. Where am I? This isn't my house!" She let loose a roar of frustration. "Of course it isn't! That hellbound wench stole it from me! Kicked me out! She'll pay! Just like her bastard of a lover did!"

Mamizou was busy, herself... She had dodged out of the way of a spirit that lunged at her, and began casting an exorcism spell on herself and Nue. But she had left herself open... a spirit hit her, and she felt odd... felt a tremendous disgust... Even as she kept casting her spell, she couldn't help but feel envious of her friend's good looks and wide social network. Mamizou was always alone, while her best friend was out carousing... never even thinking of bringing her alone. She paused in her spellcasting... why should she help Nue, anyway? Nue had gotten everything Mamizou had wanted... everything Nue had wanted, and without any effort even.

Everything except Satori, Mamizou realized for a brief moment as her consciousness broke through the possession... just long enough to finish the lingering spell. The spirits were ejected from herself and Nue... their heads immediately cleared... right before panic overtook them. They bolted down one of the halls, no care in the world except escape... such a narrow escape.

They ran... and flew... and dashed... out the door of Chireiden... and still they didn't stop... didn't even slow. A shriek of terror and blast of magic gave them away every time a wandering vengeful spirit in the underground city strayed too close to their escape path. Past the bridge, out the dark blowhole... hours upon hours... perhaps even days of a mad dash... an instinctual panic that led them outside.

Only when the starlight of the surface covered them did they stop, collapsing from exhaustion, where they dreamed of being annihilated, a terror-filled void covering their consciousness... the fate they had only barely escaped still squirming in their freshly violated hearts.

* * *

_**Meanwhile, back in Chireiden, Satori's Study**_

Satori's consciousness noted distantly that she was making good progress. Equations scattered about the room, looking a complete mess, but ordered neatly in Satori's focused mind. Already she had isolated several key variables, and continued to solve the system piece by steady piece. Indeed, it seemed she was nearly finished.

Then Satori's consciousness noted something... Something about Orin? Hadn't Satori told them she was not to be disturbed? She was certain she had... She was ready to dismiss it as a disrespectful pet and made a mental note to properly educate the one responsible... And then she noticed the mental image of Orin didn't look quite right, though she couldn't put her finger on it with so much of her mind buried.

Well, whatever it was could wait a few more minutes. Come to think of it, they had probably found Nue, posing as Orin. Good, then... that was one less thing to worry about later. She finished her calculations, stored the results away carefully, and began to restore her normal consciousness. The sight that awaited her upon returning was certainly not the one she had expected.

Nearly a dozen vengeful spirits surrounded her... The typical fear through their minds of Satori... of the secrets and sins she would rip from their hearts... But these few emitted an even greater fear... one that had driven them to Satori against their own wishes.

Orin, the one being that would hold a conversation with them, was grievously injured. Satori guessed these spirits were nearly finished in the hellfires if they were entertaining such concern for another. Of course it was still selfish, wishing mostly for their own sake that they be able to converse, but-

Wait, Orin was what? Satori's eyes focused as she finished her return to consciousness.

_You'd better not let her die!_... _What sort of owner are you?_ … _Don't you even care?_ … _I hope she's still okay … I hope her friend makes it through_... Satori saw just one image of Okuu, but it was clear she was no better off than Orin. Satori paid the spirits no more mind... their thoughts had made it clear where the two had been injured, and Satori made haste there, collapsing space as she did, making the lengthy journey in under a minute, calling out to a blaze cat she passed by:

"Fetch Udonge; the rabbit Youkai in room 2244B and get her to the 1300C hall with her emergency medical supplies." Complicated instructions, but the hypnotic shove Satori put behind it reassured her that it would be carried out.

Unfortunately, it seemed the vengeful spirits had been accurate in their assessments. Orin and Okuu lie unconscious, leaking blood and essence at an alarming rate. A powerful youkai must have injured them. Of course, given those puncture wounds, the culprit was obvious. Satori quickly noted the culprits as the spirits identified them, to confirm her guess... The spirits all had conflicting images of the perpetrators, and given the injuries, Satori knew Nue was responsible. Wait... more than one? The other was probably Mamizou, then... she'd find out how they escaped later...

"You're testing my patience, Nue..." Satori muttered through gritted teeth. But she had other concerns to deal with before the 'unknown' youkai.

A crowd of vengeful spirits lingered nearby, urging Orin to wake up... and paying almost no attention to Okuu. When they sensed Satori's sudden presence, most of them scattered, only a few staying; their concern for Orin outweighing their fear of Satori.

"You folks might get out of here soon, if you're this worried..." Satori said as she knelt beside Orin. Unsurprisingly, this comment caused a few to lose what concern they had; After all, they'd be able to speak with whoever they wanted as soon as they got out of here. _I'm almost done? Awesome. Finally I'll get to talk to more than a cat._

Satori suppressed a sigh as she started channeling healing magic... naturally, the ones thinking that weren't nearly as close as they thought they were. The magic flowed from her hands and closed the worst of Orin's wounds, but already Satori's limited magic was nearly drained. Getting down here with such speed and healing such grievous wounds had exhausted her magical reservoir, and she hadn't had the chance to create an external one yet.

Of course, just because her magic was exhausted didn't mean she was... She ran to Okuu and knelt at her side. Left alone, the wounds would be her end... the amount of essence leaking was dangerous, and not just to Okuu... the air shimmered near her from the heat she was emitting as her blood flowed freely from her wounds... at least the nuclear accessories hadn't been damaged... but Satori wasn't terribly sure what would happen if Okuu died... and certainly wasn't about to find out.

Satori had no idea if her plan would work. She knew that what Meiling had done for Marisa wouldn't be effective here... Satori had far, far too little vigor to even start to restore what Okuu had lost... not even enough to seal her injuries. But she had -some- energy... she focused herself, her mind remembering what had happened at the gates of the Scarlet devil mansion... Satori gathered her Qi around her third eye, ready to thrust her Qi out... but she couldn't just let it go... she had to do more.

Satori weaved a potent healing spell, though she lacked the magic to fuel it... then she forced her Qi out through the woven spell as she could manage with her inexperience. The Qi rushed out from her third eye, warping as it passed through the spell, being redirected and amplified by it, fueling the spell in place of Satori's magic. Satori kept pushing her Qi through the spell. It was almost like forcing a chunk of clay through a hole too small for it. And before long, she had exhausted herself... she tried pushing out more of her Qi, but knew any more would be dangerous... soon she might reflexively start draining it back, and that would likely be fatal... quite possibly to both Satori and Okuu, given the spell that was between them.

So Satori released the spell and let her Qi spread out as she looked at Okuu... The raven's wounds had been sealed, her essence secured, though still weak. Good... it had been enough. She started to stand, but her body had other plans, as she fell to the ground. That hunger was back, though she kept it under control. Of course, the nice, warm ground helped distract her.

Sure felt nice on her cheek, the ground. Maybe now wouldn't be a terrible time for a nap. Udonge could probably handle the rest. And what a beautiful night sky... so many shimmering stars... Yeah. Just a quick... few... minutes...

* * *

_**The Human Village**_

Kyouko was loudly humming a cheery tune as she entered the village. Normally, Mamizou or her friend collected the water, but the former was absent, and the latter had recently been kicked out of the temple. Byakuren had assured the others it was a temporary exile, and once the lesson was learned, Byakuren would allow her back in. Kyouko didn't terribly mind her absence... she enjoyed the busy sounds of the human village, and didn't typically come here otherwise.

Of course, she could feel the tension as well as anyone else, and after a short time in the village, she couldn't help but reflect that with her tune... the cheery, jaunty melody had changed to a darker, forboding one. After a few minutes of being looked at with something between irritation and nervousness from the humans and youkai alike, she stopped humming. Unfortunately, it did little to ease the tension, and even less to calm her nerves.

Kyouko reached the well without any particular incident, though. Unsurprisingly, someone else was already approaching it to draw water, so she patiently waited for them to finished. The platinum haired woman was taking a while, but Kyouko kept a respectful distance, not wanting to get in her way. Unusual hair color, though... Oh! Maybe this was that doctor she'd been hearing about. Well... maybe if she'd cut her hair... and dressed as a maid. Right, so it was probably that vampire's maid, then. What was her name again? She really was taking a long time. Kyouko stepped up to her.

"Hey, do you need help drawing water?" She was happy to offer a helping hand. The maid stopped bending over the well and turned to face Kyouko before speaking.

"No. I'll be fine."

"You'll be fine?"

"That is what I said."

"That -is- what you said." Kyouko agreed and stepped back again, shrugging. It seemed the maid was making progress already, anyway... one of the amber glass jars she had near her was about half full, and she picked it up now to finish with it.

Kyouko waited patiently. Finally the maid finished and started walking away, but Kyouko noticed something was odd... the jars she was carrying were empty.

"Um... Miss, I think you messed up."

"What do you mean?" The maid asked innocently, confused.

"What do I mean...? You're supposed to -take- the water, aren't you?" Kyouko indicated the empty jars.

"Huh?" The maid looked at the jars and let out an unnerving laugh. "Silly me! Would you mind helping me, after all?" Come to think of it, she did seem a little out of it. She Probably hadn't been sleeping well, lately.

"I don't mind helping you at all." Kyouko stepped up to the well with the maid and helped her fill up the jars, the work of but a few minutes.

"Thank you! Now to bring this right back to my mistress." The maid started off.

"Back to your mistress...? But I thought you worked at that mansion over there." Kyouko pointed in a different direction than Sakuya was heading.

"I really am tired today. Thanks for all your help." the maid happily changed directions accordingly and staggered off... Well, hopefully the vampire would let her get some rest... she wasn't going to be much use to anyone in that condition. Kyouko quickly filled her own water buckets, as a few others had begun waiting for their turn to draw water.

Her task finally complete, Kyouko made her way back to the temple. She'd likely need to make a couple more trips, but at least it was entertaining enough. Really, the human village was like some sort of spook house... it was unnerving to Kyouko, but in a pleasant sort of way, now. She resumed her cheery tune from before as she left the village.

* * *

_**Chireiden, some time later**_

_Why would Meiling do this? Such a long way to come... revenge? But then why didn't she finish the job? I can't believe what's been happening... I finally neutralize the poisons on Eirin, but she's still a vegetable, Satori gets herself sucked dry by Meiling, Okuu and Orin were out cold for nearly a day, themselves... At least they healed quickly... it sounded like the hells would have been in trouble if they'd been out any longer... And the others are still in Remilia's home... Youmu learned a lot from me, but she doubtless has other things to be doing...and Reisen would have trouble tending the others after she healed... if she even did. For all I know, she... didn't make it..._

"You... just regularly do that? All that ruminating on recent events?" Satori couldn't help but ask as she finally returned to consciousness. Well, she did something similar herself whenever she got the chance, come to think of it. Unfortunately, that hadn't been happening very much, lately. She still felt too tired to move her limbs, but at least her magic had returned...

"Oh! You're awake!" _Thank goodness... she nearly looked dead, earlier... needed a lot of blood to pull through._

"A yes, then. But I should correct you, Meiling wasn't the culprit... the drain you saw was wholly my fault. Orin and Okuu needed the aid... I may have pushed myself too hard." _They were even -worse- before?_

"They were. Good to hear they got back on their feet so quickly, though." Satori was indeed relieved that her pets were fine.

Udonge nodded in agreement. _Their wounds were bad, but far from fatal..._ "I guess thanks to you, huh?"

"Indeed. Now, you mentioned that Eirin's poisons have been neutralized?"

"Yes. She's right-" _over there_. Udonge turned her head towards Eirin, who Satori now noticed was just across the room from her. She felt none of that agonizing pain... felt almost nothing. Eirin's body may be there, but they'd have to hunt for her lost heart.

"Sorry I couldn't help treat her until now, but it seems you managed well."

"Thanks... the poison Medicine used was well engineered. I mean, I'm sure master could have done better, but I doubt the poison would have been effective on anyone else..."

"But it was."

"Well, yeah, I suppose. It almost seems like she custom tailored the poison for Eirin though..." _I never knew master's physiology was so different... _

"I can only imagine what sorts of engineering she's done on herself. I suppose I'll learn, though, by the time we've finished repairing what's left of her mind."

"She... will be alright, though, right? We can fix her?"

"Maybe, maybe not. Won't know until we try, though." Satori sat up. Well, she tried, anyway. Her body decided it would much rather keep lying down, though. Satori sighed...

"That's where I was supposed to sit up, you see. I suppose I'm more tired than I thought."

"Well, you were unconscious for a few days."

"-Days-?" Satori was not pleased with this...

"Well, I can't be sure..." _How does she keep track of time down here, anyway?_

"We usually don't bother... We're running out of time, though... do you know how long until the next full moon?"

Udonge shook her head.

"Well find out!" Satori was nearly in a panic... if they couldn't fix Eirin in time...

"How?"

"Ask your rabbit friend. She's on the surface, right?" Satori's words slammed into Udonge... she'd been putting off trying to make telepathic contact with Reisen... in fear that she had died... had left Udonge alone as the last Lunar rabbit.

"Gensokyo can't wait for you to get over your insecurities: ask her now. If she's dead, she's dead, and we'll have to find another way. If she isn't she's the best way to find out."

Udonge nodded meekly and tentatively sent out her thoughts... sorrow began to fill her heart as she recalled the times she would listen quietly to the idle chatter being sent out as she wistfully watched the moon at night... Now those mental channels were silent, and the moon she knew was gone... not only taken over by demons, but now hidden out of sight by thousands of feet of rock. _What went so wrong?_

"Focus, Udonge." Satori's harsh tone reminded Reisen of her master when she got serious... and she was right... this wasn't the time for reminiscence... she sent her thoughts out more loudly, directing them towards Reisen, speaking them aloud out of habit as she did so.

"Are you there?"

A worrying silence replied to her... and then Reisen finally noticed and sent a reply.

_Yes._ Relief flooded Udonge's mind.

"Thank the heavens. You're alright..."

_Yes... thanks to you and Youmu, of course... And I was worried you were dead or worse. Nobody's heard from you for over a week!_

"I'm fine... I'm here with Satori and Eirin. We're just about ready to finally start getting her back to normal." Udonge could feel the relief from Reisen.

_Well, you'd best hurry. We could really use your help up here. And.. well... it's only about five days to the full moon, so everyone's getting... well, really, really worried. I don't know about Satori, but you're really something. I'm sure you'll manage._

"Thanks, Reisen. Please be careful. Remilia's really.. um... violent."

_Really? Remilia seemed nice enough to me, I guess? Thanks, though. She -has- been a bit on edge, lately, what with Sakuya and Patchouli missing._

"What? They didn't come back yet?"

_Nope. I'm pretty sure Remilia thinks Alice has them both under her control... puppetmaster and all that. I think Remilia prefers to be the one with their strings though, you know?_

"That's about right, yeah. Until later, then."

_Bye._

Satori lay there, nearly numb. Five days? Just five days to fix Eirin's mind and convince her to cast the spell... which may take days or even weeks to cast in the first place? Things could be worse, of course, but apparently fate hadn't decided to make Satori's life even more miserable. Not yet, anyway. Well, her body may be tired, but by concentrating her little Qi around her third eye and crown chakras, she was sure she would be able to think and read clearly enough.

"Reisen, I'm ready when you are..."

"Are you sure? You look like you need some rest."

"I do, but I can rest in five days. Hopefully we'll succeed and it won't be the eternal sort."

_Oh... right._ "Alright. I'll bring her closer." Udonge did just this as Satori let out a brief explanation.

"Do disturb me if you notice I'm changing colors or something else goes wrong, please. I won't be very attentive to anything other than you and Eirin, until we finish."

Satori prepared her mind, used her replenished magic to automate her necessary body functions again, then drew her Qi up around her higher chakras... She could tell Udonge was worried as Satori's breath stopped... Indeed, Satori would be easily mistaken for a corpse... save that she was speaking, describing the environment around her using the system she and Udonge had developed while treating Alice. Satori dove into Eirin's colossal mind.

* * *

_**Meanwhile, in the Scarlet Devil Mansion's Guest Wing**_

Reisen turned towards the entrance of the room, so she could check up on the others. So relieved was she from her recent conversation, that she almost walked right into Remilia.

"And who was that you were just speaking to?" Remilia wasted no time in asking what she wished to know.

"That was Udonge, of course. Thankfully, she's doing fine. She says she and Satori almost have Eirin healed up. I'm sure they'll... come... through...?" Reisen was beginning to suspect that she had said something to offend Remilia. The vampire's glare chilled the rabbit youkai's spirit.

"And just... where... are... they...?" Remilia punctuated each word by stepping coser to Reisen, until she was staring down at Reisen. Reisen was a little confused... she remembered Remilia being shorter... but when she started to flee, she realized she was kneeling... and couldn't... quite... move.

"In... in... Satori's home...? I think?" Reisen couldn't even conceive of trying to deny Remilia...

"Really...? Interesting. I think perhaps my sister and I should pay her a visit... If she -hasn't- restored Eirin and hidden us from the demons by then... well... It's only fitting she be the first to die for her failure... or her betrayal."

"Oh, yes! But... well, I hope they will do it."

"So do I. Then Satori won't be needed anymore, and no one will miss her."

"But... what..." Reisen started to ask a question, but her courage failed her, and she quieted down as Remilia's oppressing gaze remained fixed on her.

"Now then, go ahead and keep in touch with your friend. I would like to know just how they're managing. Oh, and do keep our conversation a bit of a secret. We wouldn't want to spoil the surprise of our visit."

"Of course not!" Reisen eagerly agreed. It would be rude to ruin a surprise such a nice young vampire had gone to such effort to prepare... And Reisen realized Remilia was not one to tolerate rudeness in her guests.

"Good to hear, good to hear." Remilia left, leaving Reisen alone in the room. Youmu was making frequent trips to the Hakurei shrine to help the new shrine maiden train or something. Thankfully, all the serious injuries were taken care of... all Reisen had to do was tend to several comatose patients. Of course, that didn't mean there was no pressure... as she walked into the room with her surviving master, hoping she'd be able to at least keep them from getting any worse.

* * *

_**Meanwhile, at the Hieda household.**_

"Thank you, everyone." A much more lucid Miko said over a light meal.

"No, thank you. It has been our pleasure to have someone of such esteem as our guest." The head of the Hieda household gave the formal reply.

"You have been nothing less than perfect hosts. We are indebted to your family and its physicians." Futo bowed respectfully once again.

"Let us know if you need anything else." Their host left quietly after a brief bow as Tojiko dismissed them.

"Sure thing. Go away now." Tojiko's informality was out of place... unusually so. Futo sent a scornful look her way, but Miko wasn't surprised. Given the murderous desire Tojiko was trying to hide, paying attention to social niceties was far from a priority. Miko was relieved that Tojiko seemed to have forgiven her, but the hatred she felt towards Satori...

Well, it was justified, she supposed. Miko didn't remember much of what happened... Only that a demon had been serving Byakuren, and Satori had concealed that from Miko. Tojiko was upset that this betrayal had led to Miko's injury, but Miko was more concerned about the fact that Satori had been on the side of the demons this whole time. The only other person Miko had ever been so wrong about before was Seiga... or perhaps herself. She could have sworn Satori had no desire to aid the demons, but the proof was indisputable; either Satori had been deceived by Byakuren when they met, or Satori had deceived Miko... and Satori was impossible to deceive in person.

With the formalities finished and their host gone, the trio relaxed, Miko setting into the light meal. "What shall we do next?" Futo's question echoed quietly in the room.

"We've already warned the people in the village about Satori and Byakuren, but..."

"Well, those at Myouren temple still have no idea... and warning them might just put them at more risk."

"Be there any humans on the mountain that need be warned?"

"A few hermits here and there... I also heard the youkai on the mountain seem to be rather involved in the war against the demons." Miko explained. They had seemed secretive about it, but it was clear they were no allies of the demons. Perhaps they'd aid in catching Satori or putting down Byakuren and her cronies.

"Fiends fight fiends..." Futo wasn't terribly surprised, though she was pleased at this new information... though she was less than pleased at Miko's next suggestion.

"That they do. I think the next thing to do would be to enlist their aid, then. We've a common foe, after all."

Futo scoffed at the idea. "You cannot mean what you say... They will but wait until our backs are turned before destroying us with their treacherous hands."

"Well, if nothing else, we should warn the hermits that live there. If we're lucky, they might even be willing to convince the youkai on the mountain of the threat Byakuren poses." Tojiko suggested, and Futo nodded in agreement as Miko voiced her own agreement.

"Good idea, Tojiko. Fellow hermits will doubtless be willing to hear us out. Let's not waste any time, then. Satori and Byakuren are even now increasing their defenses, I suspect." Miko pushed the small, empty bowl aside and stood, leading the others out.

* * *

_**Meanwhile, at Myouren temple**_

The crowd was speechless. They'd heard, of course, that Byakuren would be reading the sutras today, but after over a week without even so much as a hint that she was still alive... after all her refusals to meet with various factions and people... there she was... the muttering in the crowd grew quickly, but Byakuren ended it swiftly as she began reciting sutras in her usual steady, rythmic manner.

The crowd could tell something was different, though. Her voice carried more weight to it, though it carried no further. The crowd listened far more intently than usual, trying to determine just what it was that had changed in Byakuren. Every word that reached their ears seemed to tempt them with a hidden secret, just beyond their grasp. This continued for an interminable time, and when Byakuren finished, it was as though a heavy book cover had slammed shut in a library, and everyone was jolted free of their enthrallment.

The crowd dispersed, their questions answered and forgotten in equal measure. No doubt many of them would return once they had forgotten or understood the reading, but for now, not a one stayed behind, save the captain of the formerly flying Palanquin.

"Amazing, boss. I've never heard'm that quiet before. Prob'ly stunned speechless at you still being alive, eh?"

"I don't think so, Murasa. I think they might have been listening deeply... more deeply than they ever have, perhaps. Perhaps, in my words, they finally heard a bit of themselves."

"Er... right. Well, it sure was something to hear, no doubt 'bout that. I think that'll keep them from pestering you for a while, though."

"They don't pester me... it's a pleasant privilege to be able to listen to their troubles and advise them."

"Whatever you say. Can't say I envy your job, but everyone has their place, right?"

"Yes, we do. And you know, I've put it off too long, but we need to discuss yours."

"Whaddya mean? I've been a good little girl."

"I know about what you've been doing behind my back, Murasa. And you know I can't let you keep drowning people."

"Whoa! Hey! I dunno where you heard that, but trust me, I'm working on it. Won't be a problem for long, so don't sweat it."

"Which means you haven't finished yet. Satori was telling the truth, then."

"That little rascal told you? I knew she was trouble! Why I oughtta..."

"You'll do no such thing. The problem isn't that she told me that you're drowning people. The problem is that you're drowning people."

"Hey, wait, ain't she the one what stole your scroll, though?" Murasa's words seemed to hit Byakuren hard, but she quickly regained her composure.

"They went missing at the same time. Nazrin still hasn't found it, so I'll not blame Satori for its disappearance." Not when she knew the real reason it had disappeared. The real reason it had abandoned her... No... betrayed her.

"Fine, but I'm getting better at drowning people, at least... you know how hard it is to do here? The place is landlocked, and hardly any humans even go near water, apart from a well."

Byakuren raised an eyebrow, her tone remaining calm despite her aggression. "Don't act so pleased with yourself. How long have you been doing this? Did you do it while sealed underground? While you collected the fragments to free me?"

"Nah, nothing that long. But I need an identity, you know? No one's going to pay any respect to the captain of a temple; it'd be ridiculous. But that's what I almost was. Now, though? People still know me, because I made them know me."

"By killing their friends and families..."

"Yeah, because you know what? It's them or me. And I wasn't going to abandon you before, and I'm not going to now." Murasa's words stung Byakuren.

"And I don't want you to go before you're ready-"

"Then we're fine. So a few people end up in an early grave... it's not any different than a hunter going after game."

"You're right; it's not. Hunting isn't the only means of survival, though... do plants hunt?"

"What, you want me to sprout leaves and start lounging around in the sun? It doesn't work like that, boss."

Byakuren realized she needed to take a slightly different approach. "You went over a thousand years without drowning people, and you survived then, right?"

"Yeah, but -then- I was the captain of the Palanquin. Even when it was stuck in hell for all that time, I was the one who maintained it, the one in charge of it... just as I had been before the seal, and just as I was after the geyser freed us."

"Until we turned it into the temple, which I lead..." Byakuren saw, now. Saw that she had left Murasa stranded without an identity... and now she was chastising her friend for daring to keep herself alive despite the change in circumstances. Murasa hadn't been hiding her murders out of shame or guilt, but out of respect for Byakuren's ideals... hadn't turned to murder except as a last resort.

Murasa stayed silent, but Byakuren knew she had hit the mark.

"Then why not captain a new ship?"

"To what end? And how? Most can't fly, I'll remind you. And maneuvering a tiny little boat on one of the few lakes here wouldn't exactly earn me a reputation for anything. None worth existing with, anyway."

"I'll find something. You'll captain a vessel worth remembering just as soon as I find one."

"S'long as you realize I need to keep doing what I'm doing until then."

"Then their deaths will on my conscience. So I'd best hurry." Byakuren was resolute, and the shipless captain nodded in silent agreement... neither of them wanted the current state of affairs to continue.

They stood in each other's silent company for a long while. Eventually Murasa left without a word, as Byakuren continued to look out over Gensokyo. Kyouko quietly passed by with the last of the requested water, nary a sound for her to echo until Byakuren hailed her, adopting a more pleasant face almost immediately.

"Thank you, Kyouko. You've been a real help. Did you enjoy the walk?"

"I enjoyed the walk, I did! It's so beautiful outside, and the weather was great... but..." Kyouko started enthused, but it quickly died.

"What? What happened?"

"Well, it's just... everyone's so on edge. Even the vampire's maid was out of it..."

Byakuren had little experience with Sakuya, but for such a reliable person to be 'out of it'... things must be awful in the village, indeed. She resolved to visit it as soon as her affairs at the temple were wrapped up for a while.

"I'm sorry to hear that. It must be because of the invasion Satori was talking about."

"You're probably right. I just hope she manages to stop it. I wish we could help..."

Byakuren lamented the enormous bounty on Satori's head... but even with it there, surely Byakuren could still help Satori's cause by rallying the people against the demons, at least.

"We will, don't worry. And you've helped everyone here a great deal by getting all that water. Here, let me help you bring it in." Byakuren took one of the buckets and went inside with Kyouko.

* * *

_**The Hakurei Shrine**_

Tenshi ached all over as she awakened, covering her eyes at the brightness that shone on her face.

"Hey, you're finally awake." Ugh. That Oni? Why did she insist on going everywhere Tenshi did?

"I don't suppose I won, then collapsed from exhaustion or something, did I?" Tenshi knew better than to hope for the best.

"You were beaten, and soundly. Still, impressive to keep up with her for so long! And recovering after just a few days!" Suika sounded respectful, but Tenshi could tell the mocking for what it was.

"Fine, you're right, I was no match for her. You can keep living up in heaven." Tenshi couldn't believe she had lost. Yuuka had been a fierce foe, and Tenshi had given it her all. Her sword of Scarlet Perception had proven far less useful than she had thought. With its help, of course, she had determined that Yuuka's "weakness", if it could be called that, lie within her relative lack of agility and straightforward nature.

The fight had even started out well. Tenshi had been moving faster than Yuuka, and seemed to have the upper hand. Of course, as the fight went on, she realized Yuuka's lack of agility was... overestimated. After scoring a few minor hits against Yuuka after nearly a day, Yuuka matched Tenshi's speed... yet her sword and experiences with it made it clear Yuuka's speed was still her weakest aspect.

Then things had started to go downhill. By the end of the fourth day, the fight was firmly in Yuuka's control. Tenshi shuddered at the memories... the rest of the fight had been a nightmare. She still wasn't sure how much of it had been a dream and how much she had actually fought...

"Hey, don't worry, you made it a lot longer than anyone else. Yuuka was so pleased she even let me take you away."

"What?" Tenshi shouted as she finally sat up. Her pride as a celestial was crumbling quickly. Needing to be rescued by an oni... being -allowed- to be taken away to heal...?

"It's fine. Yuuka only rarely loses. Really, though, fun fight to watch. Good show." Suika offered a drink from her gourd, but Tenshi waved it away, irritated.

"Oh, I suppose you've beaten her then?" Tenshi figured she may as well let the Oni gloat; she was bound to, anyway. Suika laughed heartily.

"You're kidding, right? I'm not fool enough to challenge her. If -we- fought, there wouldn't be a Gensokyo left behind. And that just wouldn't do."

"So don't say she rarely loses if she never has."

"Why not? It'd be true, right? Besides, she -has- lost. Within the past month, even."

"Yeah, right. I've beaten everyone else I ever came across here, once I put some effort into it. None of them could beat Yuuka."

"I recall your fight with Yukari going differently." Suika's smug grin was nearly insufferable.

"She doesn't count." Tenshi was clearly unamused. Tenshi had been taught a very important lesson in humility by Yukari. Of course, Tenshi was sure she had been an exception, but Yuuka was beginning to make Tenshi worry that she wasn't quite as mighty as she had thought.

"I'm serious, though. Yuuka lost pretty badly to Satori... ohhh... two weeks ago or so?"

"Never heard of her." Tenshi doubted the claim, but Suika tended to be annoyingly honest.

"Oh, you will. She's the talk of the town, lately. Got on Remilia's bad side, too, so now everyone's out for the bounty. About a week or so now they've been hunting for her."

Tenshi had heard of the vampire's legendary reputation. Of course, she hadn't fought Remilia, yet, so she couldn't be sure how much was true, but Tenshi had received the impression that only particularly powerful people remained on her bad side... and alive... for more than a day or so. Tenshi rolled her eyes.

"Now you're pushing it. You can only stretch the truth so far before it becomes a lie."

"Nah, she's telling the truth." Marisa came in, her wet hair still drying from her bath. Tenshi just stared in surprise at Marisa's shrine maiden outfit and eyepatch. "Well, mostly, anyway."

"Hey now, Marisa, that's the truth and you know it."

"Yeah, but you left out that little bit where Satori lost before she won. Remember? I swooped in and saved the day?"

"Funny, the way -I- heard it was you swooped in, got yourself beaten, and were rescued by Alice." Suika laughed and took a pull from her gourd as Marisa muttered something. Now Tenshi was just getting annoyed...

"Oh, close enough. Alice wouldn't have come without me there, and Alice freed us so that Satori could fight and win, so it was still totally all me."

"Good thing we have you to set us straight about that." Tenshi's dry sarcasm made the other two laugh. "Mind telling me what's with your getup?"

"Oh this?" Marisa looked herself over... she staggered a bit, but it was hardly noticeable. "That's a long story. Kind of comes off that Yuuka story, actually. I... well... got roughed up pretty bad. I'll tell you later." Marisa laughed nervously.

"Really, though, never thought little Satori would have it in her."

"It's alright, guys, you can stop now. I get it. Yuuka's unbeatable and I was stupid for thinking otherwise. Heavens, you get on my nerves, Suika."

"She's not unbeatable. That's what we've just been discussing." Suika put on her best Yukari impression: "Do pay attention, dear."

"Well, if this 'Satori' is so great, why not take me to meet her, hm? You seem to enjoy watching me fail."

"Ooooo, now that would be interesting..." Suika's grin grew. "She nearly lost it when she found out you were a celestial. Maybe living in hell has given her the fear of heaven, eh? She sure got out of here quick after that."

"Well, either I'll learn the truth of it, or she'll stomp me into the ground like everyone else."

"I keep telling you, you're plenty strong. Yukari and Yuuka are pretty much the top of the heap. Apart from us Oni, of course. We could flatten 'em in less'n a second."

"Oh? And this 'Satori'...? An oni'd kill her in a second, too?" Tenshi casually mentioned. A mirthless chuckle escaped her lips, but Suika didn't respond... well, not verbally. Tenshi turned towards the oni after a few seconds, but Suika was already walking away, fists clenched.

"Whoa. Didn't know Suika -had- a nerve to touch. Nice work, twerp." Marisa teased as she batted Tenshi's hat off with a grin.

"Neither did I..." Tenshi reached out and picked up her hat, but as she pulled her arm back, she froze. As Suika's quiet footsteps faded into the shrine proper, Tenshi stared where her hat had been.

Where Suika's gourd lie forgotten.


	17. Chapter 17

_**Eirin**_

Satori was amazed at the chaos that had been wrought. Her previous foray into Eirin's mind had been when the Lunarian was still freshly exposed to Medicine's poison, and pain had overridden nearly everything. Now all there seemed to be was a dull emptiness. No... that wasn't quite right, for a great sense of failure pervaded her being. Failure to persevere, failure to protect, failure to accomplish... There was nothing left in Eirin's heart but failure.

And now, Satori as well, if there was even a difference between the two.

No! There must be something more remaining of her! Satori was sure of it... Eirin had planned for nearly everything. Surely she had planned for such a mental breakdown as well. Satori just needed to find the right shard. What was the point, though? Even if she found it, it would just end in failure like everything else. Still, she resolved herself to try. As a youkai, it was better to be known as a failure than forgotten entirely. At least one can recover from failure. As much as she kept telling herself she could, would, and needed to succeed, though, everything around her told her she couldn't.

Where to even begin? A quick look revealed that Eirin's mind was enormous. Eons upon eons of memories, plans, and actions. Satori's heart sank further once again as she realized the enormity of the task ahead of her. Only five days to reconstruct Eirin's mind... a mind she'd never met while it was healthy. At least with Alice, she had been familiar with the patient's mind... and Alice had still at least had a core to build around. Eirin didn't even have a coherent thought, let alone any identity.

Well, they needed to start somewhere.

"Udonge, she's a real mess. I sure hope you have a real good idea of what her mind -was- like, because she needs to be rebuilt, not merely repaired like Alice." Satori sensed apprehension from Udonge... who didn't seem terribly confident. Satori changed the focus of her gaze.

"I'd never imagined it would be this bad. Alright, we'll need to try another approach. We need more people who know more about who she was." Udonge's shame only deepened at Satori's words. _I couldn't help her after all_.

"You can and have... but still need to do so. If -I- can get past our failures, with Eirin's mind screaming at me that failure is all that exists, then -you- can keep looking forward as well."

_But even after all this time, we're no closer-_

"We are far, far closer than we were. We haven't won the war, no, but we've made progress. Now, who else would know Eirin?"

_My former masters might... and... I suppose the others who lived at Eientei... but most of the ones who knew her well are poisoned too... Or... or dead._ Udonge was trying to think of someone else who might know... _Mokou only really knew the princess, unfortunately..._

"No, there's a good thought...If we can use you and Mokou to rebuild Kaguya... Ah... but is there enough time?" Doubts raised in Satori's mind. Yes, perhaps they could fix Kaguya, and use her memories to repair Eirin... but they hadn't the time. Satori let out a frustrated sigh.

"Udonge, try.. just... I don't know. Try... something. Let's see what happens."

Udonge did as she was asked, lightly touching Eirin's mind, driving it towards thoughts of the moon as best as she could. Satori noticed the mental landscape slowly changing in reaction to the hypnotic prod. Her trained mind was able to detect the presence of a pattern... but far too quickly, it vanished.

"Well, there's -something- left of her, anyway-" Satori stopped herself as she considered what she had just seen with her third eye.

"What's the matter? I..."_ I thought it was a light enough touch._

"No, no... I mean, it was... Just... do it again." Satori paid close attention as Reisen repeated the hypnotic poke. There! Just a hint, but perhaps that would work.

"So... ummm..." _What... was that about?_ Reisen was confused. _I wish I could tell what she was thinking._

"You have no idea how many times I've heard that. Fortunately for you and everyone else, I'm pretty open. You see, I think I may have just found what we needed."

"Really?" Udonge was elated. _We... we can really save her?_

"Ah, well... sorry to disappoint you... but I'm not sure about that..."

"Then-" _What does she mean?_

"I think I may have spotted the ritual we were looking for. Or at the least, a clue to its presence within her mind."

"But... that won't help..." _She'll still be... well... _

"Once we manage to hide the world from the moon, we'll have all the time we need to actually fix Eirin."

"Right, I get it! So all we need to do in the next few days is... the ritual...?" Udonge was a bit disappointed that Eirin wouldn't be back to solve all her troubles just yet, but she trusted Satori when she said that they'd need more time for that. _But then... how can she cast it if she's like this?_

"Well, yes. I think once we've restored her memory of the ritual, I could probably do it myself, though there may be some difficulties." Satori said, but she could sense Udonge's doubt. Udonge knew almost nothing of the spell, but knew it was among Eirin's very finest, most powerful spells.

"Rest assured, if she knows how to do it, I'll know how to do it." Satori nearly stopped there... but she had best not get Udonge's hopes up without acknowledging that her doubts held some merit.

"The problem, Udonge, is that just because I know -how- to do it, doesn't mean I'll have the magic I need to do so. Your master has tremendous magical and physical endurance and might." Udonge was filled with a bit of pride, but Satori continued, and replaced the pride with concern. "I have far, far less. I might be able to manage, but it will take some tricks... not unlike what I used to heal Orin and Okuu."

_That's awfully dangerous... she nearly died from that._

"And yet, it's our best chance. And even this is a moot point if we can't repair Eirin's mind enough for me to learn the ritual from her. Are you ready to try that first step?"

Udonge nodded, her mind doing its best to sweep away the lingering doubts.

"Good. Then, remember that hypnotic jab you did a bit ago? Do it again, but focus more on the higher frequencies." Satori was ready to slip easily back into the terms she and Udonge had developed while repairing Alice's mind. As Satori focused on her new patient, she distantly wondered how the magician was doing now.

* * *

_**Marisa's former house in the Forest of Magic**_

"Oh, very good work, Bella! Here, have some tea. You can take some time off now." Medicine congratulated her new maid for a job well done. "And I see you even brought some of the water back. Good thinking." Medicine accepted the filled jars and turned to Alice as 'Bella' walked a short distance away and stood still.

"See, if you let them work on their own, they go above and beyond."

"I see." Alice's voice sounded almost like her normal voice now, but she'd not spoken words of her own for far too long, now, and that didn't seem likely to change. She wished she could at least sleep, but unfortunately her youkai body didn't need sleep, and the pain was too great to sleep through without that need.

Well, the swelling had gone down... Medicine had taken the time earlier to experiment on Alice a good bit, and after days of painful, poisonous infusions, Alice's swelling had gone down, though the pain she felt hadn't. And all the time, Medicine had talked on and on about Alice's cruelties towards dolls... that her own situation now was simply her just desserts and an important lesson.

Two things worried Alice. First was that part of her mind was beginning to believe Medicine's claims. Perhaps dolls -were- more than just objects. Alice still refused to believe it, but... well, here was a doll, exacting its revenge, so it became harder and harder to dispute. Alice's other fear regarded her special treatment. Why would Medicine fix Alice's appearance... unless Alice was to go back out in public?

To what end, Alice hoped she'd never find out.

* * *

_**Chireiden, two days later**_

"Almost... just a little more... perfect." Satori studied the results of their work. Thankfully, if Eirin had placed any wards or mental defenses to prevent this sort of invasive surgery, they were long gone, now. It had made the search for the spell that much easier. And now, with the completed spell the only thing coherent in Eirin's mind, Satori carefully looked it over, examined it.

As she had feared, the spell was of enormous magnitude. It involved putting a representation of the earth into a specially prepared pot, then swapping the earth and the representation. It would last indefinitely, but could be easily enough dismissed by the caster. It sounded nearly impossible, but it still wasn't the most magic-hungry spell she knew. The ones she had learned from Alice, taught to her by her Grimoire, were still far more draining.

Even so, there was no way she could cast this spell the way things were now. Which either meant get Eirin properly restored, as she had a large enough magical reservoir to perform the spell over just a few days, or change the way things were so that Satori -could- cast the spell. Given that rebuilding this single spell had taken nearly two days, and Eirin's condition would easily take months, if not years, to fix completely, Satori simply had to find some way to make it work.

She turned away from Eirin and towards Udonge.

"Well, I've got it. As expected... it won't be easy to perform."

_As expected of one of the master's charms._

"Putting your pride in your master aside, well placed though it may be, I'm going to have to work hard to do this... I suspect I'll need to enlist the aid of my pets."

"How... how can... I help?" _I... can't just wait around..._

"You need to find or make an appropriate receptacle for the world." Satori conjured the image of a simple looking pot.

"I can enchant it properly once it's made, but it must be made in a certain way..." Satori changed the image to a list of ingredients and procedures. "It must be done perfectly; if the container is flawed, the spell could fail in several ways. I don't think I need to tell you what would happen if the earth didn't fit in the pot we're stuffing it into."

_No pressure, then..._ Udonge gave a nervous laugh as she memorized the recipe. It was only the fate of the world in her hands, after all. In the hands of one who was but a shadow of her master... the master she had failed several times, now.

"None at all. One way or another, if this spell fails, the world will change. Either demons will rule it, or there will be nothing to rule. I'll check your work when you've finished, of course, but memorize the recipe and get to work. I'm going to need to start my own preparations."

"Ri... right." Udonge simply was not ready for this. _I've never been good at pottery..._

"And you don't need to do it alone. If you think someone else would be better able to perform the physical crafting, you're welcome to share the burden I've put on your shoulders." Satori's words relieved Udonge. Who started walking off with... well, not confidence exactly, but less doubt, at least. Satori called after her.

"Hold a moment. I'm sure Ran would be willing to help get you out there and back..." Satori quickly cast the spell to summon the shikigami, and sure enough, Ran Yakumo stood with her arms impassively crossed, rather upset that Satori wasn't presenting any fried tofu.

"What do you want, Satori?" Ran glared at her.

"Your help in completing the spell to hide the world; I need some things to properly perform it. Udonge here knows what I need; please take her to the surface and return her here when she's finished."

"I'm not your slave, nor am I your car." Ran was thinking of an outside world vehicle, it seemed, though it was difficult for Satori to pick out through the countless streams of numbers that made up Ran's heart.

"That's why I'm asking you to help save Gensokyo for its own sake. I don't like the surface, and the sooner this is all finished, the better, but I'd rather it end with as little death as possible."

"Less work for you, is it?"

"I wish I could tell you my reasons. Unfortunately, I don't... I'm not really sure what they are. I do know that I want Gensokyo to remain safe, whatever small reasons my heart calls out."

"Know that if you betray those words-" _You'll regret it..._ Ran's threat went beyond mere words. Satori's punishment would be unspeakable.

"I understand."

Ran nodded, grabbed a very concerned Udonge, and pulled the lunar rabbit through a gate.

Satori, for her part, started informing her pets of what was to come. She would be demanding a great deal from them, yet she was confident they would be receptive to the idea. They may not understand the gravity of the situation, but they'd be willing to put their lives into Satori's hands.

* * *

_**The Dark Blowhole**_

"What a dull place. I thought you said people lived here." Tenshi was unimpressed by the mundane appearance of the cavern. It was dark, damp, and cold... she couldn't even see the walls that she knew from the echoes must surround her. They'd been traveling along for... well, some amount of time. Weeks, it felt like, though without the sun, Tenshi really couldn't be sure.

"What, you can't see them? They're all over. Earth spiders have been crawling all around us." Suika gestured widely, returned to her jovial self. Still Tenshi wasn't sure she wanted to push her luck and mention satori and oni in the same sentence again. Suika was one of the people she was -sure- she couldn't beat... on account of having tried countless times before.

Tenshi looked at the bottom of her boot. Were they just too small for her to notice?

"Oh, I think you'd notice if you stepped on one. Well, -you- might not, but anyone able to see their hand in front of their face would be able to."

"I have ears, too, you know. If they were around, I'd hear them."

"And if they were loud enough to be heard easily, they wouldn't have built so much on the surface without anyone noticing."

Tenshi had had enough. She created a terrifically bright halo over the crown of her head. The rapid movements she suddenly saw caught her off guard. The walls themselves seemed to move... were there really that many? She peered carefully at it and saw that no... there were only about four beings in the immediate vicinity, but their webs covered almost the entire wall, and their sudden skittish movements were disturbing them. Watching the walls seem to slide and move didn't fill Tenshi with a great deal of confidence... She made a mental note to avoid using any of her keystones down here. Getting buried in a collapse would be the height of boredom until she were able to dig herself free.

"Hey, quit being so rude!" Suika tripped Tenshi, then kicked some loose rocks at the shining halo, which obviously wasn't effected.

"Hey! Watch it! Fine... I'll put out the light." Tenshi removed the light and found herself nearly blind. She got back to her feet and listened for Suika. Thankfully, the oni had a distinct and noisy shuffle, and she managed to follow Suika who was already stepping away... taking another drink, it sounded like.

"Don't worry though, we're not too far from the bridge, though. You might want to keep your complaining down when we cross it."

"Who's complaining? I'm just pointing out that it's too dark down here, and the air's all stagnant, and it's so -dull-."

Suika laughed. "Sure, maybe. So think about what it would be like to -live- down here. To be -forced- to live in such a place."

Tenshi shuddered. She'd go mad within a month, no doubt. Heaven may be boring, but at least it was full and boring. This place was... lonely.

"Don't worry. The city might be more to your liking. It's a bit more lively. Just don't start a fight with any oni."

"Wait, there are oni down here?" Tenshi stopped. The thought of dozens of little Suikas... actually reminded her of some fights she'd had. Well, a city of people like Suika wouldn't be much better, she was sure.

"Of course. Not as many as there used to be, I'll bet, but there'll be a bunch."

"That Satori lady lives in the city, then? So we're almost there."

"Huh? Oh, no. She hasn't lived in the city for..." Suika pondered... "Well, long before I was exiled to the surface. She lives in a large palace a long ways further past the city."

"If you were exiled, does that really mean its alright for you to come back...?"

"Ah, it was so long ago, none of them really care. Besides, everyone who wasn't on my side during that argument... had to deal with... a city of angry oni..." Suika stopped talking for some time, only occasionally taking a drink, clearly lost in her thoughts.

Tenshi had a hunch the oni had come out on top... so why was Suika so... mopey?

* * *

_**Youkai Mountain**_

"Okay, we've been avoiding it for a while-"

"Of course we have. Look at it! That is no residence of a hermit. It is far too gaudy for such an enlightened one."

"Well, if it's a youkai's place, then no harm in teaching them some humility. And if it -is- a hermit's place... or more likely where several of them live, then we'll warn them like the rest."

"Right." Miko started off towards the rather large mansion. To be perfectly honest, she was pretty sure Futo was right; it was almost certainly a den of Youkai. Miko could hear its inhabitants... bestial growls and roars, caws and chirps of birds. Miko wondered for a brief moment if it wasn't one of those zoos Kanako had mentioned.

Tojiko and Futo followed, of course, and within a few minutes they reached the mansion. They could sense the tengu eyeing them, but after several earlier battles, it seems they had judged it not worthwhile stopping the trio. Of course, Miko had tried to explain the situation to them, but they were being as close-minded and xenophobic as ever... and besides, they seemed... unusually well informed about the demons. All the more reason to warn the hermits that lived amongst them.

Miko knocked politely on the door and listened carefully at it. She heard someone approaching at a steady pace. As the footsteps grew nearer, Miko could hear their owner greeting some others... pets, then? Quite a menagerie if that was the case.

As the door opened to reveal a pink haired woman, Miko's guess was confirmed. The owner had a small pet on her shoulder and a... some sort of lizard... at her feet. The inside of the building was surprisingly bare, and quite wild. Indeed, the building didn't seem to be a shelter for a person so much as a sanctuary for beasts.

"Not everyday I get visitors..."

"We've heard that line more often than we care to, today. We've come to warn you of the dire situation we now face." Miko bowed and calmly spoke.

"Something about a demon invasion, right? I take it things are beginning to get out of hand? I knew I should have paid a visit to Reimu earlier."

"You... you know about it, already?"

"I... remain well informed." The pink haired hermit glanced absently towards a small rodent... Miko understood the source of her information, though it seemed Tojiko and Futo had missed the subtle gesture. In fact, Futo was shooting a death glare towards the hermit.

"Ah. Then I suppose we needn't warn you of-"

"Stop! She is no human! Show your true form, vile beast!" Futo shouted, but the hermit remained rather unimpressed.

"Alright." the hermit agreed... but nothing happened... "There. This is my true form; Kasen. Impressed?" Of course, Miko's own doubts had been raised... and she, too was convinced, there was -something- odd about this hermit.

"I won't be taken in by your deceit!" Futo had already pulled out spellcards, and before Miko could stop her, declared a duel, holding four cards.

"By my hand, you will reveal your true nature upon your inevitable defeat!"

Kasen simply sighed. "Fine, and if I win, you and your companions will abandon any thoughts of my inhumanity."

Miko simply hadn't been expecting this, or she would have found some excuse to leave Futo out of this. Her old friend was simply far too eager to jump into battle. Sure, it seemed Kasen was... well, very suspicious, but was it too much to ask that they simply... talk to her? If anything, she was even more at home on youkai mountain than any of the other hermits, and could have some valuable information. Miko wasn't pleased that she was being included as part of the spellcard duel agreement, but Futo of course, would never back down now.

As they'd gone around the mountain it had become very clear to Miko's sharp ears that the youkai on the mountain were not only aware and well informed of the demon threat, but actively conspiring against the demons... they even had operatives on the moon, continuing to provide them new information... the entire tengu and kappa societies seemed focused heavily on the demons, with only a few stragglers seeking Satori... and even they were doing it to provide funds for the demon invasion. Miko couldn't deny that the youkai on the mountain knew what they were doing and would be valuable allies...

But Futo could and did, declaring her first spellcard immediately.

* * *

_**Hakurei Shrine**_

Marisa heard someone moving around the shrine, approaching her. At least, she's pretty sure it was the shrine. She looked over at Reimu, in the netherworld... yeah, she was quietly sipping tea. She and Marisa had grown further and further apart... Marisa was sure Reimu hated her for being in the world of the living... or perhaps for taking over her position... her identity, really. Even so, while she seemed to be dealing with that herself, Marisa's own guilt still gnawed at her.

There, again... some movement. She didn't see anything, but she had a hunch. She turned towards the noise.

"Why, hello there, three little fairies." Sure enough, Sunny Milk and Star Sapphire appeared, though the third was oddly absent. The two who -were- present had looks of terror on their faces.

"What? Did Luna... follow us..." Sunny and Star looked around furtively.

"Don't tell me you had a falling out or something. You had a real great theme going, there."

"Um... what... why is your hair a different color...?" Sunny asked.

"I... Oh. I'm Marisa. You know, black white witch? Helped you out with that Tsuchigumo problem back when?" Sunny looked terribly confused, but Star seemed to catch on. Meanwhile in the netherworld, Reimu was glaring quietly at Marisa... fine, so maybe she -wasn't- over the identity theft yet.

"Oh yeah! Hey, even better then. I think Reimu'd be... not... really happy to help. I mean, you didn't help much either, but-" Star was interrupted by Marisa.

"Hey, I got it out of your house, didn't I?"

"Did you? Well, we kept living there afterward, so I guess you must have. Anyway! Mind helping us again?"

"Depends on the problem."

"Luna's acting really funny. Well, not ha-ha funny, but uh-oh funny. I think maybe one of those spirit things from nearby got stuck in her or something."

"Oh, one of those vengeful spirits?" Marisa suggested, prompting a shrug from Sunny and Star.

"That what they're called? Anyway, yeah, one day she just died suddenly, then she wakes up and poof! Well, not 'poof', exactly, but really close, you know? She woke up all cranky, starts making all kinds of noises, breaking things left and right. Killed us lots, too. We only finally managed to just get away..." Sunny explained, all the while looking for the fairy being discussed.

Of course, it seemed they had forgotten that Luna would be very easy to notice. As a deathly silence fell over them, Marisa recognized it as more than just a lull in the conversation and reached into her personal magical storage... she had the perfect tool for this. She pulled it out, pointed at Luna, sneaking in through the door, and called out her attack out of a force of habit.

"...!" 'Master Spark-like-Flashlight!' probably would have sounded more impressive, but silence is what it is. And she didn't -need- to call it out to switch it on. Luna collapsed to the ground, her stunned body hitting the ground with a loud thump... seems Cirno had had quite a bit more endurance than these three.

"What have you done? Ghhh, that hurts!" Luna cried out.

"I hear you've been a bad little girl, lately." Marisa stomped up to Luna.

"No! They must be spreading lies! I'd never kill them with a knife." Luna seemed to be hiding something behind her back, and Marisa could put two and two together easily enough.

"You normally just walk around with knives then?"

"Of course! I mean, no! Nuh uh. Sunny does all the cooking, you see." Luna was looking around for some route of escape, but Marisa pointed the (now deactivated flashlight) at Luna, and the fairy clearly wasn't eager to be hit by its light again. Which was unfortunate for her, because just then, Marisa turned it back on. Luna tried staggering away, but Marisa only kept the beam on for a few seconds; just long enough to grab the bloody knife Luna was holding, stow it, and get a good hold on her.

"And... what is this, then?" Marisa noted the terrified looks of recognition on the faces of the other two fairies of light.

"She must have planted it on me!" Luna's lie was pretty good as far as fairy deceptions went, but Marisa was unconvinced.

"Well, let's see if we can't fix your little problem, you two." Marisa may not be the most practiced exorcist, but there happened to be a well trained one in this very room... well, -that- very room, anyway. She turned to Reimu.

"Ah... hate to be a bother, but... I need to perform an exorcism..."

"I'm not going to perform your exorcism for you. I can't, remember. -I'm- stuck here."

"Right, no, I just need... instruction, I guess?"

"Ask Genji." Reimu bluntly said, but upon seeing Marisa's confusion, answered the obvious question. "The turtle in the pond behind the shrine. He talks."

"He -does-? Awesome!" Marisa took her captive out of the shrine. Sunny and Star followed quietly, and Reimu simply sighed.

* * *

_**Kasen's Dojo, Youkai Mountain**_

"How! How can you fiends all be so powerful?" Futo's wail of despair was a perfect example of why she had so much trouble in Gensokyo, Miko noted. Miko had realized quickly that in spellcard duels, power meant almost nothing. They were about strategy, planning, insight, deception, grace, and beauty. While none of these were beyond her friend's grasp, Futo still saw spellcard duels more as a war or battle than a ceremonial duel of minds. Naturally, that approach had defeated her once again. She quickly quieted and merely sulked that she had lost. Tojiko went to try and cheer her up.

Kasen's attacks had been interesting to observe, favoring use of her animal companions , and participating very little in the duel herself. Of the few attacks she personally -did- use, Miko could swear there was something about them that she had heard or seen elsewhere... some sort of reference to something she should know. But her mind couldn't latch on to it. She just couldn't connect the dots... she wondered what Kasen had even put forth as her reward for winning the duel... given Futo's reaction of sulking quietly, probably... well, just that Futo quit making such a fuss. Well, with that pointless duel out of the way, no harm in asking some questions.

"You know a lot about the demons thanks to your little spies there, so perhaps you know more about what it might take to summon one of these?" Miko conjured an image of the demon that had nearly killed her at Myouren temple.

"You can't seriously be considering summoning such a fiend!"

"It's worse than that; someone already has." Miko flatly declared. Kasen's face betrayed her concern, but seemed to mask the fear she ought to be feeling. No... Miko knew better; this woman for some reason wasn't afraid of such a demon. Kasen's concern quickly turned to anger as she replied.

"I've heard they can't be bound. What sort of fool would call a demon that strong when it can't even be bound! It's like calling a tornado to live with you!"

"One way or another, Byakuren seemed to have control over it, so either she performed the impossible and bound it or she's offered it her soul or something. I was rather hard pressed to merely escape, so I can't be sure how exactly she was controlling it,." Miko admitted.

"You said Byakuren did this?" Kasen was doubtful. "She's not the sort who would. She works with youkai, sure. I've heard her temples doing a lot to help youkai and humans mingle... but she doesn't seem the sort to affiliate with demons."

"I take it you weren't aware of her imprisonment in Makai, then?"

"What? When?" Kasen was more than a little unnerved.

"She spent over a millenium imprisoned in the realm of demons. It's little wonder she would work with them now. It's also no wonder she would keep that affiliation secret. Were I a normal human, I doubt I'd have seen past her obfuscations." Miko stated bluntly, and Kasen didn't seem to be taking the news well.

"But... she's helping youkai to change..."

"For the better, though? I think she's merely brainwashing them to follow her more easily. And I don't think I need to explain to you what goals a woman who allies herself with demons might have."

"No, you don't. If what you say is true... I suppose I'd better start keeping an eye on her. And if what you say isn't true..." Kasen glared at Miko. "Then I hope you're willing to pay the price for your lies."

"You need not worry about that. Please, though, tell me any more information you find out about her. The more we know about this threat from within, the more likely we can prevent it from going out of control." Miko beckoned to a Tojiko and a dejected Futo, and they flew away without another word. Miko could heard Kasen's silent doubts, though. Even so, it seems she had finally found someone able and willing to help against the monster in human guise, Byakuren.

* * *

_**Behind the Hakurei Shrine**_

"Hey! I heard there was a turtle back here, name of Genji? Talks? Knows how to perform an exorcism?" Marisa called out. "Uh.. and anyone in the Netherworld, ignore what I'm shouting.

"Please, you need not yell so loudly. If you know my name..." A large turtle... larger than Marisa, poked its head out of the water. "I see you were made into the new shrine maiden. Something happened to Reimu, then?"

"Yeah, she... well... she's dead." Marisa struggled to keep up her cheery front, but Genji had no difficulty seeing through it.

"No, no, I understand. You two were good friends. I heard your conversations from here." Genji peered at Marisa, who had since approached the pond.

"Yeah. Say, why do you think she pointed me over to you? Do you think our friendship is falling apart?"

"If she's dead, I'd be awful tempted to say it already has. You speak of the present, though... and... there's something odd about you."

"Oh, yeah, I talked to her just a bit ago... I'm alive and dead or something, I don't know. I'm still getting the hang of having two bodies."

Genji pondered this for a time, but seemed to dismiss it quickly, getting to the topic at hand.

"So... mind telling me why you've got the fairies from the nearby tree there? I doubt she told you to com ehere on a social call."

"Huh?" Marisa looked at the squirming fairy in her grasp. "Oh, yeah! Reimu told me you could exorcise whatever's possessing her or something."

"Perhaps... -if- she were possessed." Genji rested his head on the ground lazily.

"She is, Mr. turtle!" Sunny shouted out. "She's been killing us for no reason lately!"

"Well, it's possible she's become corrupted somehow." Genji craned his head as far up towards Marisa, but after a few moments, decided against it and plopped his head back down. "I don't suppose the moon's turned red or anything lately?"

"No... seems those folks who lived up there been wiped out though. Demons did it, or something."

"Do you really need me to explain this to you, then?" Genji prompted.

"Of course not! I get it, now." Marisa proudly declared... but didn't move.

"Good. Back to sleep, then."

"Wait! I mean, -I- know what's going on, but I'm sure you're real good at explaining things, so maybe you could save me some breath and explain it to these lil' things?" Marisa gestured to Sunny and Star, drawing a low chuckle from Genji.

"Of course..." Genji turned to specifically address the fairies, but kept his eyes on Marisa. "You see, if a fairy's source changes, then the fairy changes its nature to match. To put it in a way even a fairy can understand: The moon is full of bad things, so your friend is a bad thing too, now."

"Fix it! We don't work without her!"

"I fear fixing the moon lies within the realm of you young ladies. I wouldn't be much help, really."

"Eh, don't worry about it. We'll think of somethin'. Until then, I'll just keep little miss moonshine here secure." Marisa strode off back to the shrine to retrieve some proper tools to restrain a fairy. "Moonshine... now there's an idea."

"Well, if you have any other questions, do let me know. Just... try to make it a reasonable time of day." Genji called out after her and returned to sleep. Given the new shrine maiden's energy, he suspected he wouldn't be getting much of it; best to get what he could now.

* * *

_**Myouren Temple, One Day Later**_

"Now just remember to get plenty of rest, and you should be fine in a few days." Ichirin waved as her latest patient returned to her room. She took another drink of water, but she was looking nearly as bad as her patients. Byakuren suspected she was ill as well, and simply doing what she could to help others despite that... she was glad to have the girl as a friend, and a companion.

"Of all the times for an epidemic..." Byakuren was helping where she could. She had been one of the youkai who had suffered the affliction, though it had been easy enough to remove it from herself. Magicians were no less susceptible to typical human diseases, and indeed, several magicians suffered physically to begin with. Byakuren had only been fine because of the direction she had taken her magical studies in her youth. Her mastery over her own body was impressive, and purging disease was completely trivial for her. Of course, purging it from others was proving far more difficult.

That wasn't to say she hadn't had any success. She had recently finished a spell that seemed to do the trick, and even now was treating the last of the human patients at the temple. At least it seemed to be limited to the temple; she hadn't heard any word from the village of any trouble. She was actually a little worried; she hadn't heard -anything- from the village lately. She resolved herself to check on it.

Unfortunately, that would have to wait. Murasa staggered into the room, looking deathly ill... Well, as much as a phantom can, anyway.

"Not... feeling too... good." Murasa managed to sputter out before collapsing to the ground. Byakuren ran to her side and examined her.

"Some sort of disease? What could even effect a phantom, though?" Unzan moved from Ichirin's side and moved the former captain to a bed, with Byakuren watching carefully.

"I don't know... everyone else that's been effected has been an animal or human youkai, so it must be something different. "

"Do you think someone's trying to kill her?" Ichirin asked, clearly hoping that such wasn't the case. Byakuren's mind flashed back to the attempt on her life a short while ago.

"I think... you might be right..." And not only did Byakuren know who... but she even knew why. Miko doubtless knew how important Murasa was to her... A low blow indeed, attacking Byakuren through her friends. When she paid a visit to the human village, she'd make it a point to warn others of Miko's betrayals and threat... those on the mountain should be warned as well, she suspected. For now, Byakuren needed to do her best to create a way to heal Murasa...

"Bring me some salted water. It may help restore her..." Youkai -did- draw some sustenance and stability from what had formed them, after all... she doubted it could hurt, anyway.

Ichirin and Unzan left the room hastily, and Byakuren wondered... if Murasa were being attacked... perhaps the other inhabitants of the temple were... And she just happened to know of a certain race of underground youkai that frequented the surface, bearing disease. She had no idea how Miko had convinced them to work against Byakuren, but...

Someone needed to have a word with the Earth Spiders.

* * *

_**Chireiden**_

Satori walked through the halls, keeping the anxiety that gnawed at her in check by using the straightforward optimism of her pets as a counterbalance. She had indeed obtained their permission, and had already set up the necessary network... Now it was just a matter of charging the grand hall with magic collected daily from her pets. The hell of blazing fires would slow for a few days and completely shut down on the last, but it was a small price to pay to prevent the invasion of demons. Of course, her job wouldn't stop there, but it was a good start, at least.

Truthfully, patrolling the halls of her home filled her with a great calm. It was almost as though she could simply go back to how things had been over a month ago. She kept the vengeful spirits in check, put down thoughts of rebellion and replaced them with humility as she went through the halls. Of course, it wasn't exactly the same as before.

When she passed a pet, she drew forth some of their magic power into a crystal nearly as large as her fist. Every so often, as it would near filling, she took it to the great hall and poured the essence into one of the countless stained glass windows. The great windows were able to hold a surprising amount of magic, A result of the ornate patterns, most likely. After this was all over, she wouldn't need to worry about intruders ever again... a month or two to charge the hall would be all it took to set up some potent defenses, easily recharged during her patrols. Seiga's externally focused magic was proving to be a tremendous boon.

She hadn't had the time to make more than a few damage-bonds, though. She had decided to go with smaller ones... against the likes of an oni, nothing could survive more than a single hit anyway, and given her luck, she expected the city outside to come knocking on her door just in time to interrupt the ritual. Perhaps a particularly observant person would have noticed that the halls were now three feathers more bare, with only a few hundred remaining scattered about.

She hoped Nue and Mamizou, at least, would leave her alone. She considered the rate they had fled, according to those present, and suspected she would have at least enough time to complete the ritual. She let out a light chuckle... hope? No, best to assume they, too, would come in at the exact worst moment.

Then let them come. Even Nue could know fear, and Satori was they must be aware of the threat the demons faced, now... everyone else on the surface seemed to be. She could count on completing the ritual, she was sure. Though there was that nagging little doubt that something could go wrong. She sighed and pushed the thought out of her mind. She would do what she was able as well as she could, and hope that things turned out well afterward. Who knows, perhaps they would even begin to accept her if she managed to carry out a ritual only Eirin had ever managed before.

Satori laughed. It had been an interesting thought, but wildly optimistic. Between her experience with minds and the books she had read on them, she knew better than anyone that a single act, no matter how impressive, rarely won someone over. Indeed, if anything, they'd only see her as more of a threat.

* * *

_**The Human Village**_

Udonge humbly approached the Hieda household once again. Unusually, only one guard was posted, and she seemed rather drained. It must be someone new... Reisen didn't recognize her.

"Um... Hello. Could I speak with-"

"No..." The guard's response seemed like it would have come out sooner, if the guard had been more alert.

"What's the matter? I'm Reisen Udonge Inaba...? I've treated Akyuu no Hieda several times now..."

"Medicine rabbit? I'll go see." The guard turned and left her post unattended as Udonge waited... for quite a while, though thankfully the guard managed to stagger back.

"Mhmm, can go in." She said, and leaned against the wall, clearly fatigued.

"You should get some rest... What's happened here?"

"Plague. Whole village." Even speaking was apparently a great deal of effort. Now that she thought about it, the myriad youkai were all she had seen up and about in the village... no doubt as a result of their disease resistant nature... most humans must be bedridden.

"I'll see what I can do..." Udonge went inside and headed directly to Akyuu's room. If there was a plague, doubtless the young woman had suffered its effects as well.

Udonge entered the room and Akyuu looked nearly dead. Pale, hardly breathing... the rabbit had never seen Akyuu this bad...

"Akyuu? Are you alright?" Udonge knew the answer, of course, but it wasn't just courtesy, but a useful preliminary assessment...

"No." Akyuu's voice was weak and raspy, almost like she was nearly choking. Udonge moved closer and began her inspection, but Akyuu brought up a good question.

"How... why... here?"

Udonge winced. As badly as Akyuu needed to be treated... she needed that pot.

"I'm looking for a skilled potter... I remembered you mentioning someone here was skilled in that craft?"

"Died... yesterday..." Akyuu took a while to answer, and the answer was certainly not what Udonge wanted to hear. "What... for?"

"Don't worry about it. I'll... come back later, just be careful. Get plenty of rest and drink plenty of water. I'm not sure what it is, really... but the guard said everyone was suffering."

"Yeah. Started near... center. Few days 'go. Spread quick. Cook said... food still fine..." Akyuu was a bit confused. Udonge wasn't much better off. She had a really uncomfortable hunch, of course... She turned away from Akyuu, who took the opportunity to continue laying there quietly.

"Reisen? Can you hear me?"

_Yeah... what's wrong?_

"Any plague problems over at the mansion?"

_Plague? No. Well, unless you count that little doll's poison. It's still working. Hasn't spread, though._

"Odd... no food poisoning or anything, either?"

_No... Remilia seems fine, I'm not even sure the gate guard -gets- food, and the fairies have been fine. Well, complaining more than usual about needing to cook and eat their own food rather than Sakuya's, but-_

"Sakuya's -still- not back?"

_What? I suppose she isn't. Oh... what do you think happened to her?_

"To take this long to get back? She might have caught this plague? Gods, I hope not. I don't suppose anyone left at the mansion is a good potter?"

_Youmu might be, but she's at Kourindou right now. She said she had some business there._

"I suppose I should go check there, then... the shopkeeper might have some things I need, anyway... or at least know where to get them."

_Keep in touch._ Udonge felt the connection cut. Despite the disturbing news, she was comforted by the simple presence of another Lunar rabbit, unskilled though she may be.

* * *

_**Later that evening at Kourindou**_

"Hello?" Udonge timidly opened the door. She heard some voices inside, and as she looked inside, saw that they belonged to Rinnosuke and Youmu, as expected. They both turned to her as she stood at the door. Rinnosuke seemed alert and well, but Youmu had seen better times. The young gardener's eyes were sunken, her shoulders hung, and even her ghost half seemed more lethargic than usual... it seemed that she'd been crying very recently.

"Oh... hi, Udonge." Youmu gave a half-hearted wave. Rinnosuke beckoned her in, an invitation Udonge quickly accepted closing the door behind her.

"The plague hit you, too?"

"What? What plague? No... I've just... it's been tough."

"Have any inspirational words for her? She's been like this all day, it seems... would you like some tea?" Rinnosuke offered.

"Well, how's this for inspiration: we're almost done! We'll be able to hide from the moon in time. I just... well, we need help with some of the last step. And, yes, I would like some tea, if it isn't too much trouble." Udonge said as Youmu sulked over some cold tea of her own.

"And that brings you here? How may I help you?" Rinnosuke asked, pouring a cup for Udonge.

"Well, I need some things, and I need to make a pot of them..." Udonge started rattling off a list, and Rinnosuke nodded as it went on, only speaking when she finished.

"Yes, most of those are fairly common, and I happen to have the rest as well. Let's see... now, about the price..."

"I have some medicine you could use, I supp-" Udonge quickly stammered out.

"I think the discussion of payment can wait until it works, eh?" Rinnosuke interrupted her, grinning. "And if it doesn't, payment won't really matter. Youmu's told me about the situation on the moon." Udonge was relieved.. finally, something was going their way.

"Now, you need to make a pot like that... I think I could do it myself, but if you had anyone else in mind...?" Udonge shook her head at Rinnosuke's prompt. "Then I'll get started. I think I can finish it in a few days. It will probably need to be fired someplace else though, if you want it to actually last."

Udonge nodded. "I know just the place... but I don't suppose you could do it a bit faster? We need to be ready before the full moon."

"I could help..." Youmu looked at Rinnosuke, some hope in her eyes.

"Well, with some help I could probably have it done within a day or so, I suppose." Rinnosuke nodded.

"Thank you so much! I'll be back tomorrow then. Until then, I think I have a plague to try and deal with."

"Good luck. Oh, and if you see Marisa, give her my condolences. Youmu here told me the news... I'd been wondering why those two hadn't been showing up lately..." Rinnosuke waved as Udonge left and Youmu stood, looking somewhat invigorated.

* * *

_**The Human Village**_

Well, first thing to do would be to check the town center. Perhaps some refuse was causing a miasma or the like... Udonge approached the well as she looked around. It seemed fairly normal, apart from the absence of humans and the presence of youkai.

"Haven't seen anyone draw from the well for a while. Youkai don't need to and all the humans are bed ridden. So what brings you here?" Mima approached Udonge from a nearby alley.

"I'm just trying to find out why the disease spread so quickly."

"Ah, so you're with the humans, then?"

"Well, I'm against the disease, wherever that puts me. It could effect youkai next, anyway. I need to find out what's causing it."

"Afraid I can't help you there. Just watch your step; a lot of the youkai around here are upset that their friends or victims are getting sick... and the rest think it might be a great time to finish off the weakened humans. I suspect it's only a matter of time before they make their move."

"None of the food supplies have been tainted?"

"Doesn't seem so. Animals are getting sick too, though."

"Maybe the well went bad?"

Mima shrugged in response. "Could be. Still plenty of water there, though, and the infection spread a bit too fast... There was probably some magic involved."

"Yeah. Maybe a you...kai..." Udonge looked at the well once more. She wouldn't, would she? But she -was- active...

"What, thinking of someone?"

"Maybe. I need to test the water..." Udonge hoped she was wrong... if she wasn't, what could even be done? If Sakuya had failed, what hope did a mere rabbit have? Udonge drew water and prayed that it was clean... free from poison.

Free from the influence of Medicine Melancholy.

* * *

_Author's Notes:_ _I really didn't think I'd get this done in time. You see, I watched Puella Magi Madoka Magica. That basically occupied my mind for a few days. I might start up a crossover fic or two with it and Touhou a bit later... I think I need a bit more of a plan than I currently have, though. We'll see. _

_Meanwhile, thanks for continuing to read. I can't believe how long this has gotten... well, I'm still enjoying writing it, and considering how long it's been, that's a good sign._


	18. Chapter 18

_**The Next Day, in the Underground City**_

"See? I told you you'd like it more here."

"This is delicious! It's far and away better than the sake in heaven!" Tenshi called out. "You've gotta teach me the secret!"

"Awww, you don't really want to learn it." Suika laughed as she downed another enormous gulp of the potent drink before passing the enormous bowl it was in to Tenshi.

"You saying I can't keep a secret?" Tenshi's hand was hardly steady as Yuugi poured from Suika's gourd into the empty sake dish.

"You said it, not me. Its not that we couldn't tell you, but sometimes a secret is best left one. It makes the drink taste that much better!" Suika explained as Tenshi emptied the sake dish with a single tilt before handing it to Yuugi, who had passed the gourd back to Suika, who began pouring Yuugi's share.

"Y'know, it'd be better if the other two were here, though. The things they could do!" Yuugi said, cheerfully before draining the dish.

"Oh, those were the days. You know, funny you mention it, though! We're actually going to go check up on Satori." Suika said as she received the dish and passed the gourd. Tenshi poured intently, needing her focus, as she was already beginning to suffer a bit from the ludicrous amounts of alcohol they'd already imbibed.

"You don't say? Hey, I thought she went to the surface, though? Wasting your time coming down here, aren'tcha?" Yuugi said, but Tenshi replied; Suika was busy downing her share.

"Yeah, but she'll be back down soon, right? Better if it's a surprise. I'm going to go ahead and put her in her place." Tenshi's proud tone helped the dish and gourd continued their way around the small circle.

"Mmmm. That brings back memories. Just don't go all out. Trust me, satori break easily, and she's busy running that place so we don't have to. Nearly lost myself when she went to the surface after I saw what she did to Parsee." Yuugi said with a grin as she poured.

"Yeah... Satori is... still there, isn't she?" Suika's mood dropped.

"You can't still be feeling bad about that, can you? What's done is done..." Yuugi accepted the bowl from Tenshi, but rather than passing the gourd, passed Suika the sake dish. Suika looked up at her fellow oni.

"What, you need it more'n I do." Yuugi poured into the dish as she spoke. "Can't have you bringing us down with bad memories... though given the look on our friend's face, it seems they'll be coming anyway."

Tenshi looked curiously to Yuugi as Suika began drinking from the Sake dish... as Yuugi continued pouring into it, with surprisingly little splashing as it funneled directly into Suika's mouth. The celestial had to ask...

"Don't just leave me in the dark here, what happened?"

"We oni wiped out the satori a long time ago. We Devas are just about the only ones that think that was going too far." Yuugi explained.

"Why would you do such a thing?" Tenshi was intrigued... this sounded like one hell of a tale.

Suika closed her eyes as she kept drinking, nonstop.

"Suika here wasn't entirely honest once, and a satori ratted her out. We oni hate dishonesty, as you're doubtless aware. So we had to exile her."

"But, if the satori... how long is she going to keep drinking?" Tenshi was watching, amazed, as Suika continued all but inhaling the sake... it had been nearly twenty seconds now, and the two-horned oni showed no signs of paying attention to anything beyond the stream of amazing sake.

"At least until we stop talking about this, and a bit beyond, probably."

"Oh... but why would the oni be upset... didn't the satori just... I don't know... enforce the law, so to speak?"

"Ah, it wouldn't have been such a problem if we four Deva's weren't so important to the other Oni. Suika was a bit of a role model, you see. When her little deception came to light, the immediate response according to tradition was exile, but almost immediately, we regretted it." Yuugi took another look to Suika... tears were beginning to form on her eyes, even as she continued to drink.

"Because you'd exiled one of your heroes?"

"Yeah, exactly. And of course, the oni blamed the satori for disgracing Suika... most still do. As I said, only we Devas, who were close to Suika, realized that the fault wasn't theirs, but hers."

"Oh... So they were wiped out because... they ruined a hero's undeserved reputation?"

"More or less. Kind of a kick in the teeth when you think about why we followed them down here."

"You followed them? From where? Why?" Tenshi was all ears at this point, a small child wishing to hear a grand tale. Yuugi somewhat disappointed her.

"That's a bit of another story... maybe another day. You can ask the Tengu, though... they'll probably be able to explain it better, anyway."

"Well, maybe I will."

"Anyway, the satori were good at avoiding us, but we outnumbered them, and once caught, there was little they could do... they were never particularly strong, another reason we didn't properly respect them. Before long, the only two left were the Komeiji sisters, as they're now known."

"She has a sister?"

"Does she?" Yuugi frowned in concentration for a moment. "I suppose so, or they wouldn't be sisters. Can't remember what she looks like though... I just remember that's who lived in Chireiden. Anyway, we left the Komeiji sisters alone, because they were fulfilling the duties of the underground... and nobody else had been doing so. They found their niche, and we let them have it... most oni thought it a fitting punishment. This is the first time Satori's left her palace for... centuries? Not sure. Long enough that few even know or care that any satori at all remain." Yuugi noticed that Suika had leveled the sake dish, and stopped pouring.

Suika handed the dish to Tenshi. "Thanks... I needed that." The smaller oni accepted the gourd and finished pouring for Tenshi.

"I... I can't help but wonder... what lie was so bad that Suika had to be exiled? That all the oni decided all the satori should be killed for? Must've been big." Tenshi was eager to hear the end of the tale... or rather, its beginning.

"Quite possibly the largest lie an oni's ever told, yes. But that's for Suika to say, if she's willing... I'm not sure I remember it, anyway." Yuugi looked to Suika, who nodded as Tenshi lifted the bowl to her mouth and began to drink deeply.

"I'll never forget it... the deception that spilled all that blood over me..." Suika sighed and looked to Tenshi, who was deep in the middle of her drink. Suika then turned to the open air, the ancient lie escaping from lips that could never forget it.

"'I think pink suits you.'"

* * *

Tenshi nearly choked. She coughed up what she had drunk , and struggled to get air.

"Hey now, don't waste so much." Suika chastised the celestial for spilling a bit of sake on herself.

"I remember now... It was Satori herself, wasn't it?" Yuugi observed, and Suika nodded as she replied.

"Yep. Everyone else liked it... even Satori, so I thought rather than causing trouble, it would be best..."

Tenshi had nearly recovered, and sputtered out "All... all that death." She started coughing again. She couldn't believe it... she had been expecting that Suika had held a dark secret, or betrayed the oni to some other power... but to think...

"It started with a disagreement in choice of fashion, yes. And wouldn't you know it? The color's grown on me. I really think it suits her, now." Suika refilled the dish and gave it to Yuugi while Tenshi finished getting her breath clear.

"Why? How could you all-"

"If you still can't understand after all we've told you, than you don't understand how high we value honesty. Many oni still think the satori deserved their end, remember. Now, though, distrust runs higher than ever... the satori planted that seed of dischord, and in revenge for planting it, the oni killed the only ones who could uproot it." Yuugi looked at Suika, their somber faces a shadowy reflection of the lighthearted mood that had dominated their drinking earlier.

"You oni deserve your own destruction, then! That's terrible! Weren't they -people-? And you killed them all... and for a mistake -you- made?"

"Oni aren't generally known for their quiet contemplation. Try accusing any of the other oni here of that... if they even remember or care, it'd be a great way to get a fight. Not just the oni hated the satori, mind; plenty of other, more deceptive youkai hated the satori for a more straightforward reason; they wanted to practice deception. I suspect you'll see their side more when you meet her."

"I just don't see what they did wrong. They don't sound like they deserved what you did to them. I'd never treat another person like that." Tenshi declared. Yuugi turned to Suika and grinned.

"Perhaps you two had better go then. Can't have her forgetting her boast here after too much to drink."

"Heh, yeah. Humble pie is best served fresh." Suika stood, filled Yuugi's dish once more, and grabbed Tenshi as the celestial protested.

"I meant what I said!"

"Oh, I know. That's why it'll be all the more funny the sooner we do this."

"The death of an entire people isn't funny!"

"Of course not. Doesn't mean your reaction to meeting one of those people won't be. Gotta find humor where you can." Suika said. "Maybe it'll even help me loosen up about the whole issue."

Tenshi broke free of Suika's loosened grasp and walked alongside her, though she quietly wondered just how deep Suika's scars ran... The oni wasn't wearing the smile her words indicated she should be.

* * *

_**The Dark Blowhole**_

Ichirin Kumoi saved her limited energy, letting Unzan carry her through the dark caves.

"Thanks... I'm going to need all the energy I can get..." Ichirin suspected Byakuren already knew, but the disease that had been running rampant was assaulting her, as well. Really, it just made her a better choice to descend among the earth spiders; she hoped one of them would recognize the disease or claim credit for it. Of course, Ichirin could barely see anything down here... And it was quiet as death itself. After descending for a few hours, she decided that she needed to create some light.

As she conjured a ball of light and held it in her hand, she was comforted by the signs of life around her. All over the walls, earth spiders skittered as far into the shadows as they could, the web covered walls crawling, as though she were in the belly of a great beast. She gave a weak smile... she was in such a place, wasn't she? Was there any creature greater than the earth itself? One of the earth spiders approached her angrily.

"-What-! What do you want?"

"Wait... aren't you Yamame Kurodane?" Ichirin recognized the earth spider from her short visit to the temple.

"Yes! I am! The others might be too timid to complain, but -I- was given to understand that there was still a contract in effect. What are you all youkai doing down here, bringing all that light with you?" Yamame was very impatient.

"All us...? I've... only just... arrived." Ichirin hadn't been feeling well... but she hadn't expected it to get this much worse this quickly. Unzan looked concerned, but she gave him a reassuring glance.

"Fine, if you say so. Now do some explaining, missy. Why -are- you here?" Yamame clearly didn't believe her, but wanted the surface youkai out of her home as soon as possible.

"There's a plague... on the surface. It's spread through the human village and Myouren temple..."

"And you think it was us?" Yamame tapped her foot impatiently.

"You... do spread disease... and it spread so fast... within days... nearly everyone..." Ichirin tried a non-confrontational tone, but it came off as accusatory regardless.

"Yes, but we rarely go to the surface. You know, in order to avoid interruptions like these when people come marching back down."

"Has anyone gone... up in the past... three days? Or so?" Ichirin was beginning to sweat badly.

"Well, I can't deny that I've seen you looking better..." Yamame made a tugging motion in the air, and Ichirin saw the walls seem to crawl in response as Yamame continued speaking.

"Odd that you say it was contagious, though. Wildly contagious, if three days was enough to shut down the village. The disease you brought down here doesn't -seem- contagious."

"It is, I swear it!

"If you really want, I could take a good bite out of you and know for sure, but I've got a pretty good sense of these things." Yamame looked around at the walls and studied the motions of the webs covering them for a bit. "Yeah, doesn't seem anyone else went up recently either. So you'd best go up while you still can."

Ichirin didn't have it in her to refuse... she started heading out.

"Oh, and I feel it would only be courteous to warn you that you are carrying several contagious diseases."

"What?" Ichirin looked back over her stiffening shoulder. "You said-"

"That you didn't bring one down here. Think of them as a parting gift. And a reminder that we rather enjoy keeping to ourselves."

Ichirin was conflicted. If she went back, she'd infect everyone else... but if she stayed here, then Byakuren wouldn't know that the original affliction shouldn't be contagious... and she lacked the energy for even a basic communication spell.

"Unzan... Go report back... let the temple know what we've learned... then... hurry back, please."

Unzan replied in his nearly inaudible voice. "Keep yourself alive. I don't trust these folk."

Ichirin gave a weak grin. "I'll be fine." Unzan looked extremely nervous, but flew off.

"Staying a while, then? How -noble-. Hm. You really do smell delicious now, though. Don't worry though, it'll be a few days before you're ripe enough to eat. Get some rest. You'll need it." Yamame waved goodbye as the light, and Ichirin's consciousness, faded into darkness.

* * *

_**The Human Village**_

Poison. Udonge sighed... No, not merely -a- poison... It was a cocktail of several different poisons, just concentrated enough to be dangerous, but not enough to be deadly. Udonge didn't need to guess twice to know who was responsible.

"Medicine..." Udonge clenched her fists. Ever since Tewi had met that vile doll in the suzuran field on Nameless hill, it had been nothing but trouble. And yet, Udonge couldn't help but sympathize with her, a little. Eirin had paid her even less respect than she paid even the multitude of rabbits around Eientei, and her past and birth were tragic...

But none of that excused what she had done. Poisoning the water supply of the human village was simply going too far. To spread such meaningless suffering just because she'd had a rough existence... no, nothing justified this.

"Medicine, you say? That's right, you're that rabbit youkai doctor."

Udonge turned around to see none other than Byakuren Hijiri. Udonge had attended one of her sermons in the past, at Eirin's request. It had been tedious, meaningless rambling from someone who had no idea what they were talking about. Of course, Udonge wasn't about to say that to her face.

"Yes, I am."

"I suppose you're helping to treat the plague, then? It's recently afflicted the temple, as well, you see..."

"It has? Odd... I don't understand why she would poison a youkai temple... I thought Medicine held her grudge against humans."

"Poison? There... did seem to be a poisoning of a youkai at the temple, but it seemed different from the plague that affected the humans there."

"Oh... if there were humans, that might explain it. Though I'm not even sure she knows about your temple... she's only been free for a few weeks, and she doesn't seem to move around a lot... maybe it was an accident."

"We certainly haven't had any visitors named 'Medicine', yet. It sounds like you know what's going on...? I came to find out, myself, but..."

"Long story short; don't drink water from this well. It's been masterfully poisoned." Udonge flatly declared, and the expression of horror that painted itself on Byakuren was unmistakable.

"We... take our water from this well, as well... Hold a moment." Byakuren started casting a spell to send a message to Shou back at the temple... She had nearly recovered from the earlier assault, and this information needed to be passed on: 'The village's water was poisoned. Remove Murasa from the saltwater bath -immediately-, and take care to purify any water before use. I'll be back soon to help.'

Udonge was already hustling out of town, and Byakuren hurried to catch up.

"You... wouldn't happen to know the antidote, would you?" Byakuren hoped, but Udonge's face told her the answer to that immediately.

"Perhaps my master could prepare one, but Medicine Melancholy poisoned her first... Now, the only person who could fix the well is probably Medicine herself, and I can't imagine why she would."

"I... might be able to help. Do you think she'll attack the village, though?" Byakuren asked... she wasn't familiar with Medicine, so Reisen couldn't fault her for her ignorance.

"I can't think of another reason for her to poison it."

"We had better warn the villagers, then."

"I... can I... entrust this to you?" Udonge timidly asked of Byakuren.

"I'll do my best, but couldn't you... No, I assume you have some important and pressing business or you'd help, yourself."

"You're right. It's nearly the full moon, and if I don't do what I need to in time, the demons will launch their assault from the moon." Udonge's words stung Byakuren... She was still trying to cope with the fact that she had been so thoroughly betrayed by those same demons.

"Then go. Do what you can to stop them... they must not be allowed to reach Gensokyo. I'll try to deal with the situation here as soon as I can. Unfortunately, it seems most of the town is asleep at this hour." Byakuren turned back to the village. Thankfully, she had built up enough of a reputation now that people would heed the warning. Perhaps they'd blame her for Medicine's actions... Byakuren didn't care. So long as they stopped poisoning themselves, it would be fine... repairing her reputation could come later.

* * *

_**Kourindou, late that night.  
**_

Rinnosuke admired his and Youmu's work. The young girl had actually proven to be a tremendously skilled artisan. Her focus and dexterity had been important for many of the finer details that decorated the pot. For his own part, the owner of Kourindou was simply pleased the old pottery tools worked; he hadn't tested them out since he had found them in Muenzuka years ago, but a quick touching up had them in working order.

Rinnosuke could tell Youmu had enjoyed the work, though he couldn't say why. Even now, she kept looking between the pot, safely secured in the corner, and Rinnosuke, the fatigue obvious in her posture and eyes, but the joy and pride no less so.

They'd been making small talk for some time... Youmu seemed to refuse any offers to sleep until the pot was collected, and Rinnosuke wasn't about to sleep with a guest present; not needing much to begin with, he was still doing fine. He kind of wished the pot would just get picked up already, though, for Youmu's sake as much as his own. Considering the topics they'd been discussing, she'd had a rough few weeks.

Thankfully, there was a knock on the door... Ah, that must be her now.

"Come in, come in." He prompted. Youmu looked a little sad, but turned to face the door.

A small, blond child walked in carrying a doll that looked much like her, it's black and red dress even matching her own. This isn't who he had expected... Youmu's face drained of what little color it had had...

"I was wondering what this building was. Nice little assortment of things... well, it was on my way, anyway."

"Mind introducing yourself?"

"You!" Youmu's trembling hands were on her swords, ready to draw and fight.

"You two know each other?" Rinnosuke looked between them.

Medicine Melancholy looked over Youmu. "I think we might have met at some point. I don't know why she's so upset, though? I'm Medicine Melancholy."

Youmu took a series of deep breaths and calmed herself. Thankfully, it seemed Medicine didn't recognize her from the skirmish in the Scarlet Devil Mansion. And Youmu wasn't sure she could win even in peak condition; her recent fatigue would doubtless doom her if it came down to an open conflict. She doubted she could protect Rinnosuke, either... as fine a potter as he was, he was no warrior. No, best not to antagonize the little fiend.

"Sorry, I just... thought you were someone else." She lowered her guard, but her body didn't stop trembling, wracked with fatigue and fear in equal measure.

"Can I help you, then? I've a wide variety of supplies from outside Gensokyo." Rinnosuke asked calmly.

"Not right now... My friends and I are in a bit of a hurry, you see. We have some business in the human village. I may stop by later, though."

"Hope to see you again, then." Rinnosuke waved as the small girl left and closed the door behind her. Youmu slumped against the table and slid to the floor, letting out a sigh of relief.

"Pleasant enough sort... So, -do- you know her?" Rinnosuke wasn't terribly convinced of Youmu's earlier lie.

"She's the poison Youkai that's been causing... a -lot- of trouble. We're lucky to be alive... If we'd been full humans... she probably would have killed us on the spot... or worse."

"That bad, hm? I didn't know such a youkai lived in the forest of Magic."

"She must have moved there recently." Youmu was trying to calm her racing heart. "She's... a true terror. Rinnosuke, promise me you won't try to fight her."

"Sure. I'm not much of a fighter anyway, so that's easy enough." Rinnosuke shrugged, much to Youmu's relief.

"Good... I just... the things she's done... the things she'd do..." She trailed off, and they sat in an uncomfortable silence for some time.

More knocking on the door. Perhaps Medicine had changed her mind... Youmu tensed up, ready to move swiftly if needed. "Come in?"

Udonge entered this time, causing Youmu to collapse with relief again. "What happened to you, Youmu?"

"Just... a bit weak in the knees. Medicine came in here just a short while before you."

"She -what-?" Udonge started to quiver.

"Said she had some business in the human village. We finished your pot, though." Youmu gestured to the large pot.

"Oh no... I didn't realize she'd attack so soon..."

"Mind filling us in?" Youmu dragged herself to her feet.

"That plague I mentioned? Medicine poisoned the water supply." Udonge explained.

"She really is that bad, then?" Rinnosuke looked to Youmu, who merely nodded in response. He'd have to be careful around her later, then. He thanked his lucky stars that he hadn't needed to restock his water recently either.

"If she's going there, then she's making her move... Ahhh, but I need to get this pot back to Satori!" Udonge was panicked. Perhaps Ran would know what to do. She used the summoning charm Ran had given her when they had parted ways earlier.

Reliable as always, Ran appeared, her arms crossed in their typical manner. Rinnosuke let out an exasperated sigh, and Youmu bowed respectfully towards her master's friend's servant; the two were on generally good terms.

"I take it you've finished? Yes, I see. That must be the pot." Ran quickly saw it. "Let's get going, then."

"Wait! The human village is about to be attacked by Medicine Melancholy! Can we intercept her or something?"

Ran leveled steady eyes at Udonge and asked a very weighted question. "Which is more important? Getting that pot to Satori, or intercepting Medicine Melancholy?" Ran stood impassively, waiting for the answer.

"I..." Udonge felt eyes staring at her... The six in the room, and the countless ones in the gap Ran had left open behind her. She felt a destiny pushing down on her right now... the pressure was intangible, but nearly crushing her. It seemed as though not only the room, but the entire world or more awaited her answer.

The pot... to stop the demons from invading Gensokyo. But... maybe the youkai could defeat them? She had seen amazing power... there were oni, vampires, and enormous powerful users of the Demon's own magic. And surely the demons wouldn't be able to transport all their innumerable hordes in the short window they'd have... maybe they didn't even know a path would open until next month. Was it too much to hope for, though?

Medicine, meanwhile, had all but destroyed Eirin, had brutally attacked the few other survivors of the moon, and seemed to have nothing less than complete defeat of humans as her goal. Her attacks seemed to target Udonge and the people close to her, intentionally or not. And while the demons were a potential threat, Medicine Melancholy was here -right now-. If Udonge could stop Medicine, and the demons didn't manage to come through in droves this full moon, everything would be fine.

But... what if they did? Medicine's defeat would be fruitless... and everything she'd heard of demons suggested that what Medicine was doing now was insignificant next to what they were capable of... the fiends had even managed to defeat the forces of the Lunar capital... even Yorihime and Toyohime... If they -did- come through in full force, it might not be the end of not only Gensokyo, but possibly the outside world as well...

And Ran's piercing gaze told her she -must- choose. And with every moment that passed, she came closer to choosing neither, and getting the worst of both decisions... As she stood stunned, unable to deal with the weight of the world that had been placed on her shoulders, she heard a voice.

"I'll take the pot back to Satori. You go and stop Medicine." Youmu's fatigued voice begged. Some weight lifted off of Udonge's shoulders... not all of it, but enough for her to think clearly.

"Then who am I transporting?" Ran posed the new question. "I can only take one of you to your destination."

"Then take Youmu. I might be able to catch Medicine before she causes harm, but Youmu would never get to Chireiden with the pot in time if you don't help her."

Ran nodded, and with the choice made, the tension in the room dissolved. The kitsune touched the gap, and the bizarre scene within it shifted slightly as it widened enough to accommodate the large pot. "Good decision."

Youmu carefully lifted the pot, using her ghost half to help keep it stable. "Be careful, Udonge. And hurry!" Youmu's words touched Reisen's ears mere moments before the half-phantom stepped through the gap.

Reisen was already out the door when Ran altered the gap and left through it, moments after Youmu.

Rinnosuke looked over the suddenly silent room. "Well, I suppose I could do with a nap." He walked over to the door, closed and locked it, and retired to his room.

* * *

_**Chireiden**_

Satori looked was in the great hall, emptying a crystal of it's magical energy. It almost certainly wouldn't be enough... she'd felt sure she'd need to rely on her 'backup' plan. Satori hoped that the Hell of Blazing Fires -would- remain functional after this ritual. So much magic would be needed...

_This... this must be Chireiden...? I hope so..._ Youmu's unmistakable echoing thoughts interrupted Satori's own. The half-phantom's fatigue went far beyond the physical... how long had it been since Youmu had slept? The poor gardener wasn't even sure, anymore. Satori sensed that Youmu was in a good mood, though very disoriented from her lack of sleep... she was running on willpower alone, now.

"Yes, it is. It looks like Udonge sent you with the pot... ah, it yet needs to be fired? No worries, that should be simple enough." Satori turned to a nearby blaze cat and gave it a suggestion to contact a certain large family of salamanders; and have them meet her at the room satori now declared the firing room. Satori had little doubt they'd be able to get the heat as high as it needed to be and keep it there long enough.

"Come, follow me. I know a good place for it." Satori gestured and lifted the pot with magic, surprised at its weight. Youmu felt the wight lifted and relaxed. Satori led Youmu to a bare, rock room. It was somewhat small, but plenty large enough to house the pot, as well as a cage within to protect it from her pets. Of course, its original purpose had been a sort of time out box, but she hadn't needed to use it as one for a long time. Satori gently placed the pot within the cage and waited but a few moments longer for the salamanders to show up.

Eager to help, they moved into the room. Satori produced and offered some food. "Thank you for your help." They, in turn, were pleased for the food and the chance to rest easily. She wiped her brow; even a few moments near them had raised the temperature in the room outside the impromptu kiln far too much for Satori's comfort. Youmu seemed just about ready to fall asleep on the floor right then and there.

"Come, let's get you to a guest room. You're welcome to sleep, though I think you should see the fruits of our efforts. I'll send a pet to awaken you when the ritual is ready."

_Huh? Ritual? Oh yeah, we were making a pot for a ritual..._ Satori yawned... Youmu's fatigue was enough to make Satori fight to stay awake, herself. She guided the half-phantom to a nearby guest room, and watched as she collapsed into the bed to sleep easily. Satori was impressed just how easily Youmu fell asleep... it seemed she'd put a lot of effort into treating those at the Scarlet Devil Manor, and then crafting the pot with Rinnosuke.

Of course, Youmu had had other reasons for working with Rinnosuke... reasons that were rapidly occupying her dreams. Satori left her to her sleep and resumed her patrols. She couldn't afford to be distracted with so little time left.

* * *

_**The Human Village, early the next day.**_

Byakuren had managed to return well before the sun rose, and was ready to meet and warn people as they awoke. Naturally, there was little movement from people, and apart from Youkai finding various places to sleep, the village had an eerie silence about it. The temple was taking appropriate steps to deal with the poison, though Murasa's fate was still uncertain, and even more distressing, Ichirin had sent Unzan back alone... he had explained the situation, and Byakuren sent Nazrin to accompany Unzan on his return... she had proven to be skilled at negotiations, and Byakuren hoped that skill would see her through.

After the sun rose and it was clear no one was leaving their homes, Byakuren decided to start with someone she knew rather well. Byakuren approached the Hieda residence. Unusually, there weren't any guards... nor did anyone come when she knocked. Worry grew as she entered the house. Thankfully, she could still hear signs of life. Various moans of discomfort and precious little else, but at least they were alive. She made her way to Akyuu's room, encountering no resistance.

The girl was breathing, but only just. Her eyes darted to Byakuren, and flashed with recognition and a bit of panic. Akyuu couldn't muster more than a groan and a squirm, though.

"Here, don't worry. I've got magic that should fix this." Byakuren approached Akyuu, who still made no effort to move, though her eyes were filled with distrust. Byakuren used the spell she had perfected on the people poisoned at her temple to heal Akyuu with little effort. The young woman nearly jumped out of her bed.

"Wow! Now that's a pick-me-up! What did you do?" Akyuu was initially excited, but that quickly changed as she repeated herself more seriously. "What... did you do? If you turned me into a youkai-"

"I purged the poison from you. Medicine Melancholy is likely to attack soon, so I'm trying to undo what she's done as best as I can." Byakuren explained, but Akyuu looked at her curiously.

"What she's done? Ah, right, poison... Why would she poison us, though? And... how? She can't have poisoned the entire village."

"She didn't... she poisoned the water supply." Byakuren was doing her best to restrain her disgust, but Akyuu would have to be blind to miss it, and inhuman not to share it.

"Well, at least you're fixing it, now. Be warned, though, a lot of people aren't going to trust you... Miko came through a few days ago, saying you'd sided with the demons."

"Spreading lies like that... I'm not even surprised, anymore. But... why declare me in league with the demons? Wasn't it enough of a point of contention that I was helping youkai?"

Akyuu shrugged, equally baffled. "I'm still not sure I trust you, either, mind... Miko seemed quite certain, and despite your healing me now, well, there are a enough reasons the demons might want me healthy."

Byakuren sighed. "Believe what you want, but I swear I'm not involved with any demons." She was beginning to hear some movement around the house, now.

"Miko said you were sealed in Makai for quite some time... and that wasn't the first time I'd heard such." Akyuu stood and stretched.

"That's true, but I've cut off my connections, now."

"Well, I suppose your cursed scroll from Makai is conspicuously absent. All the better to plead your case?"

"We had... a... falling out, you might say."

"And what might -you- say?"

Byakuren remained calm, but only through sharp discipline. Even so, she spoke through gritted teeth "I -have- renounced Makai. The only way I wish to be involved with it is to stop its inhabitants."

"Well, now. Both you and Miko sound quite certain. I wonder just what the truth is... but perhaps that has to wait... it seems the others have gotten better...?"

Akyuu indicated what sounded to be the last of the household leaving the building with a surprisingly lively step. Her voice portrayed a deep concern.

"That's odd... I came right here to heal you, first." Byakuren and Akyuu exchanged worried glances, then marched outside to join the crowd.

* * *

Byakuren recognized the young blond witch on the impromptu stage. They had worked together several times before. In fact, the seven colored puppeteer had seemed unusually interested in and knowledgeable about Makai. She stood now, apparently ready to put on a show, and the audience was enthralled. Something about the scene seemed very... odd. Almost as though the crowd were following a script. Byakuren quickly scanned herself for any magic that might influence her, and finding none, reinforced herself against it.

"What are you doing?" Akyuu whispered.

"Some wards... something isn't right about this."

"Could you ward me as well...? You're right... these people weren't even able to move last night..."

Byakuren nodded and quickly repeated the wards over Akyuu (Though not as perfected as the ones she used herself, they would suffice... Byakuren hoped) and watched carefully, beginning to prepare herself for a fight as well, casting spells to augment her speed, strength, and endurance. Thankfully, Alice didn't seem to notice the gestures and incantations... she seemed to be focused instead on her speech.

"Thank you all for coming out here, today! As you know, I've put on many puppet shows lately. But all before this were, as I've recently realized, cruel! Now, I know many of you can't understand why, but today I'll have a special puppet show in hopes of letting you understand better the atrocities I've committed in the past! You there, sir, would you mind coming up to the stage?"

A young man, perhaps in his early twenties, walked onto the stage. Byakuren's now sharpened senses had no difficulty seeing that something was wrong. It was almost as though the man were sleepwalking, and when he reached Alice, he simply stood there. Byakuren started making her way to the front of the crowd... she did -not- like where this was going.

"Thank you, sir!" Alice continued speaking happily. "Now, if you would just step off the stage to the side here." Alice gestured at the ground, about five feet below, and spinning blades popped into existence. Very dangerous, obviously fatal spinning blades... The man didn't even think twice, and started walking towards the edge.

"Now, now, don't delay. You see, all those dolls I thoughtlessly controlled in the course of my perfomances... each of their lives was as important as your own." The man put one foot out off the stage and moved to shift his weight onto it and fall down to certain death.

Instead, it rested on Byakuren's open palm for a brief moment as she launched herself above the spinning blades and outstretched her hands. In the next moment, she grabbed his ankle and swung him safely out of reach of the blades, using the momentum and a push of magic to put herself on the stage. Alice looked at Byakuren with the same empty eyes as her audience before speaking.

"Who are you? What are you doing?"

"What am I doing...? What are... -you-... doing...?" Wait... Alice hadn't recognized Byakuren. But Alice didn't have any enchantment magic on her, either... so Byakuren's initial guess seemed to be off. An illusion, perhaps?

"Watch out!" Akyuu's call from the stands brought Byakuren back to the situation just in time to avoid the blast of energy Alice shot from her hands. Byakuren's skin tingled as the energy flew by. Right, not an illusion, then. Wait... Her hands...? Where were her dolls? Byakuren had seen the young witch use them for -everything- in danmaku fights. And Alice didn't recognize Byakuren, despite the hours they had spent researching together... And it -was- clearly Alice; Byakuren recognized the magical aura, now that she was close enough... but something was still off... Byakuren's mind worked quickly as Alice shot several more blasts at Byakuren. Even with her endurance increased, those were dangerous... the ground erupted wherever they hit. How much had Alice been holding back, in all those other fights?

Byakuren landed safely among the crowd, and Alice seemed to hold her fire. No... not Alice. Whatever or whoever she was facing now wasn't the same Alice Margatroid she had fought before. Perhaps she had been possessed? Byakuren wasn't sure...

In Byakuren's moments of distraction, she was grabbed. Dozens of arms and hands reached out to her and grasped her. They weren't strong... they hardly slowed her at all. She kept hearing the sickening sound of bones cracking all around her.

"Leave them alone!"

"Oh, but I am. Perhaps you'd better take another look." Alice crowed from her spot on the stage as she gestured to Byakuren, who stepped forward to meet her.

And then Byakuren realized where the sound was coming from. A feeling similar to stepping on a melon and crushing it raised a sudden concern. She only then turned her mind away from trying to unravel the mystery surrounding Alice... and soon Byakuren realized what Alice had truly meant as she looked down... at the newly pulverized head beneath her boot.

Those who had grasped her slammed their heads and limbs against her magically fortified body... their blows were far, far short of an oni's strength... perhaps slightly stronger than a human's. So weak, Byakuren could hardly even feel it with all of her augmentations, but Byakuren's body was less yielding than a block of steel... and steel beat bone every time.

"You monster! What are you doing?"

"Excuse me? -I'm- not the one that's killing people." Alice's face remained inexpressive, but there was a smug tone to that voice that was unmistakable. "Now, I believe my new companions and I have some business to attend to. I'll leave those few as playmates for you. Consider them a gift! They took a couple or so decades a piece to make, so don't break them too easily, now."

Alice hopped down off the stage, into the crowd that even now started marching towards the forest of magic. Byakuren tried extricating herself from the crowd, but they firmly held on and resolutely split their skulls against her body. And they... just. Wouldn't. Stop.

"Stop! What are you doing! Stop this!"

Byakuren tried to disenchant the magic that was driving them... but it wasn't mind control... A point that was reinforced as one unfortunate man kept slamming his head against her shin, though his skull had already cracked open. As his brain smashed against her shinbone... she didn't know what was making them do this... but she couldn't let them keep going. She could think of only one thing to do in her state of shock... one thing that would be sure to stop them from hitting the equivalent of an iron bar with all their frenzied might.

Byakuren dropped her enhancements.

Almost immediately the pain overwhelmed her. Blow after blow struck her, raising bruises, opening cuts... She was thrown to the floor immediately, and with over a dozen humans giving more than their all to break the now ordinary human under them, even Byakuren's well-toned body didn't last long, despite the constant healing spells she kept using. She heard Akyuu scream something somewhere, though the rapid repairing of her body, followed by the reopening of skin, spraying blood, and breaking bones made it hard to tell what it was.

As everything faded from pain to black, she could only reply with the slightest whisper.

"I'm sorry..."

* * *

Udonge knew something was wrong as soon as she cleared the alley and came into the town square. Akyuu was standing, horrified, as a mob of people was doing... something. Akyuu noticed Reisen and shrieked.

"Do something! They're dying!"

Udonge rushed towards them, and as she approached, the sounds of bones breaking welcomed her... though it seemed that those on the outside of the mob weren't badly injured... Udonge threw them as far as she could, where they flailed meaninglessly. -Someone- was the target of the mob... and as Udonge peeled back person after person, she realized they were more injured the further they got in... even so, their conditions weren't critical... not yet... she tossed them aside as well.

When there were just three assailants left, Udonge saw their severe injuries... brains exposed, arms mangled, legs broken... it seemed one had continued to keep swinging long after his arm had been badly broken, and the way the bone had broken had torn the flesh... the forearm had long ago detached, but still the man kept swinging wildly... A woman was clearly sporting a broken jaw, but that same jaw kept gnawing on...

All of this, however, paled in comparison to the injuries they had visited upon their target. As Udonge used magic to carefully lift them away, she almost didn't recognize the bloody mess of exposed bone, flayed skin, and shredded clothing... still, the mass stubbornly breathed with tremendous effort... and little effect... though her chest struggled, the wheezing noise made her slashed throat obvious.

Udonge tried to remain calm. It wasn't going so well.

"Byakuren?" Udonge guessed... there were tatters of black and white clothing, and though the hair was stained red with blood, Udonge seemed sure she saw some purple in there, and Udonge wasn't sure who else it might be. Only a slight jerk suggested Byakuren had heard.

"Okay... okay..." she hadn't treated trauma like this without Eirin... had she ever done so even -with- her master? Minor cuts, even rather severe wounds, sure... but this went far beyond anything she had experience with. She looked around for any help... only Akyuu was standing... no... running... no... now standing next to Udonge. Her skin was as pale as snow as she asked a question that snapped Udonge back to reality, though the vigorous, panicked shaking helped, too.

"What... what do we do? Oh... Oh gods... is that..." Akyuu finally seemed to notice the bloody not-quite-human udonge was kneeling over.

"It's Byakuren..." Udonge's mind raced. She pulled some supplies out... And just stared numbly at them. What use were bandages and stitches if there weren't enough skin to piece together? What use were splints when a bone was pulverized? What use were painkillers if there were no nerves to feel pain?

Akyuu's body hit the ground as she fainted with a thud that drove Udonge back into reality once again.

"What can I do? There must be..." Udonge looked into Byakuren's remaining open eye, though it lacked the eyelid. Even now its focus wandered...

"She's still conscious..." Udonge struggled to keep her stomach calm. Of Byakuren, only a single arm, her torso, and her head were mostly intact... the rest had been shattered, torn, and ripped beyond recognition. Udonge didn't know any healing magics... none that would be able treat this, anyway. But she knew someone who did... who could heal Byakuren as well as Eirin could have.

Udonge gazed sharply into Byakuren's eye, and their gazes met, though Byakuren's showed her consciousness slipping away... nearly gone, now. Udonge blasted Byakuren's mind with her lunatic eyes, guiding them most forcefully to thoughts of healing... Almost immediately, she felt the same sort of 'click' she had felt while working with Satori... she had found it... Byakuren's mind was now clearly focused on healing magics... Udonge hoped.

Unfortunately, she couldn't read minds... And how could Byakuren cast it with what was left of her body? And she had no magic with which to do so. Her life was in Udonge's hands... was there nothing she could do to save it? Just maybe...

"Get ready to cast... I'll try to help you. Heavens, let this work."

Udonge took a deep breath locked her lips around Byakuren's throat and offered support to Byakuren's arm, then hypnotized herself to amplify any motions the arm made; to provide the energy Byakuren's muscles needed, while they provided guidance and direction. Udonge exhaled as she focused her magic forward, hoping Byakuren could draw from it instead of her own absent reserves...

Byakuren's voice, fueled by Udonge's very slow, careful, gentle breath, chanted a spell... her arm, empowered by Udonge's, moved with swift, unthinking, precise movements, first quickly, then more slowly as the slower, unaided fingers did what they could to keep up. Udonge felt her magic exit with her breath, drawn into Byakuren's body, then immediately flow towards the spell Byakuren and Udonge were casting.

It seemed to last for minutes, and Udonge kept throwing her breath forward, though her lungs screamed for air, her arm ached from the swift movements, and her magic drained so much... she wouldn't even be able to fly for a while...

Then Udonge's breath stopped, impeded by something... she looked at her patient, not daring to hope... until she saw Byakuren's face, complete with two eyes... thankfully closed. Her face was pale, but at least it had proper skin, again. Udonge leaned back as she gasped for air. She struggled to regain her footing. Byakuren was healed... well, enough, anyway. Another quick look confirmed that, while she was very badly drained physically and magically, and her dress remained in scraps and memories only, she was also very much alive.

Udonge crawled to the nearest person she had torn off of Byakuren. He still flailed wildly in an uncoordinated fashion, his arm stump spraying precious blood everywhere. Udonge threw her body on him to steady his movements, then grabbed the sleeve from his severed arm and tied it tight to minimize his blood loss. Udonge's body felt as though it were made of lead, but she moved from victim to victim, doing what she could to stop the most severe bleeding, cover the most exposed organs with splints... broken bones could be set later... She hypnotized herself to keep going, despite her body's protests.

How long was she treating them? Hours? Days? Weeks? She bent her entire exhausted mind and body to the task, and when those who could be saved were, and all the flailing limbs tied firmly to their bodies with bits of clothing and impromptu ropes of braided hair she obtained from several of the fallen... only then did she finally let herself fall unconscious, to join the unmoving field of bodies, blood, and bone.

* * *

_**Chireiden, the next night, the Eve of the Full Moon.**_

Satori looked over her preparations. Youmu stood ready in case anything should come up, though Satori didn't wish to push her if she didn't have to. She was still rather fatigued... and including her in the network would be terribly risky, given her half-unliving nature. The newly fired and enchanted pot sat in front of her, the clay orb that would take the place of the earth beside it. The windows were charged, the pets were gathered, Satori was rested. If she would ever be ready,she was ready now.

Satori took a deep breath from the middle of the great hall, and Orin and Okuu beside her fidgeted nervously.

Then she strung together the network. Window to window, pet to pet, window to pet, and finally connecting herself to them. It was a simple enough adaptation of Seiga's paradigm, and using what she had learned from the shinigami, she managed to deal with the vast distances, collapsing the magical space between them all. The network filled the entire room, magic flowing throughout it, tightly controlled, both everywhere and nowhere in the room at the same time. Satori reached out to touch the network and was nearly overwhelmed at the magic present. The power at her hands was immense. She had felt such power before, but only through her eye. Yuuka commanded comparable power on her own without need to resort to such tricks, for instance.

But Satori couldn't stop here... Even the mighty Eirin had taken nearly a week to cast the spell... it was just too taxing, magically. And Satori knew that she didn't have enough... to get a sense for the power she had, she used the magic in the room to easily lift the ceramic ball into the pot. She hardly even noticed its weight...

Reading the hearts of the strong was one thing... -being- strong? It felt... odd. Inspiring. Maybe... maybe she could actually do this.

That depended on the next step, of course.

* * *

_**Just outside Chireiden**_

"Whoa! You can feel that, right?" Tenshi looked at the gates of satori's home. She wasn't sure what was going on, but whatever it was was big, and growing...

"A -human- couldn't miss that. We'd better see what's going on." Suika opened the tremendous doors...

* * *

"No... Not now... Not here." Of course something had to go wrong. Something -always- went wrong. Perhaps Remilia was foolishly tinkering with Satori's fate. Whatever the cause, she couldn't afford an interruption now. "Youmu... stop them..." The gardener nodded and moved towards them. Satori continued... it was far too late to stop now. Simply letting the gathered energy discharge would be disastrous... and yet Satori needed more... so much more. Her level chant followed her hands as they wove a spell.

_What are you doing here?_

The pot nearly glowed with the arcane runes Satori had placed on it. She then scribed some runes into the air.

_I'm here to meet with Satori._

The transcription took a long time, of course... the runes slowly began to cover the entire room as Satori bent the magic of the hall into the arcane symbols.

_Tenshi, I really think this is a bad time._

The colors dancing in the air flickered, well past colors the human eye can see, frequently becoming visible only through the magic that was being used to keep them in place.

_Suika is right. Satori is in the middle of a complicated ritual to keep the demons at bay._

The room seemed alive, now... the tension charged as time itself seemed to slow.

_Is she going to be alright? This looks... like more than she's used to. I'm not sure she can handle it.  
_

Satori finished the runes in the air. She took another deep breath... She would do this... show them that Satori Komeiji was a force to be reckoned with... one that cared for Gensokyo, no matter how much it failed to return that kindness.

_It... with this much magic, it's no wonder she could beat Yuuka._

Satori couldn't help but let a grin onto her face. If Tenshi thought -this- was impressive, what was about to happen would leave her speechless. Satori began pulling through the network, siphoning all the magic in the hall from her pets and the windows through the tremendous rune circle, funneling it into the complex runes on the pot... kept pulling until there was nothing left... and then pulled... even... more.

_What's going on...? What -is- that spell? I've never seen anything like it!_

Pets began to faint from the stress as their Qi fled their body, pulled to the colossal rune in the air, altering as it was forced through, becoming magic to continue powering the runes on the pot. Satori felt her own Qi joining the magic, and that of her the two loyal pets by her side as well...

_She's... using her life? This is going to kill her! Stop her!_

Satori realized just how true those thoughts were. She had miscalculated... the transfer from Qi to magic wasn't as efficient as it needed to be on this large of a scale. She was still sure she could complete the spell at this rate... but continuing to breathe afterward would be beyond her. So be it. She would not fail. She only regretted that her pets would be sacrificed as well.

_Satori!_ "Satori! Use me instead; I can take it! Don't do this to yourself!" Tenshi called out.

"There's no way I'm going to let you finish what my mistake started! Use my life, if anyone's!" Even Suika's thunderous voice barely reached Satori, though the oni had moved next to her. But her heart was clear.

If they were willing to do this... then, perhaps. Perhaps escape wouldn't be that easy. Satori hastily added them to the network, directly connecting their magical essence to the tremendous glyph. She felt the strain on her body begin to ease as the almost endless magical energy of an oni and a celestial fed the magic in her place... her pets continued to faint, but perhaps they would yet see another day.

_Use as much of me as it takes. I love Gensokyo... let my life be used as atonement for what I've done to your people._

The sentiment would have been more appreciated if Satori were fueling the spell with regret. As it was, even the oni and celestial's magic reserves ran dry... Satori began pulling their Qi out through the Glyph, amazed at just how much they had. More and more was pulled out, fueling the magic... the runes on the pot blazed with a light brighter than the suns the now unconscious Okuu favored.

_Disgusting...! What is this! It feels like... I'm... emptying. Is this... what dying feels like?_ Tenshi's thoughts tended towards panic, but it was too late to withdraw now. Her vitality that had kept even Yuuka Kazami at bay was being sorely tested.

_This... this powerlessness... is this what the satori felt as they were held in oni hands...?_

Satori knew the answer to that, of course, but she couldn't reply, distracted as she was. Still the seemingly inexhaustible Qi of Tenshi and Suika gushed forth, those two now the only thing continuing to fuel the magic, the hall that had mere minutes ago thrummed with power now merely housed two columns of life, to become streams of magic, that swirled around the pot...

_I... can't... stand..._ Tenshi and Suika both collapsed onto the ground... even their endurance was tested by the raw power the spell required...

Finally, with hardly the Qi of a typical human left between them, the pot was charged... Satori looked at it... She had run the distance... now she just... needed to cross the finish line. She'd close the pot... then...

She felt her eyes drooping, and forced them open. No! She would do this! She... could... not... fail.

Satori moved the lid onto the pot... so filled with magic that reality distorted around it, focusing intensely. Then, she put her trust in her preparations... a week long ritual would be performed in a fraction of the time... or everything would end, either by her hands or the hands of the demons... it made little difference. Satori activated the runes.

The world itself seemed to hang... not a single breath disturbed the great hall of Chireiden...

In the Scarlet Devil Mansion, in the city of the Oni, in the forest of magic... in Genbu Swamp, on Youkai mountain, in the bamboo forest of the Lost... not a single living thing moved, caught breathless by something. Fairies froze in midair, Youkai stopped in their tracks, and hermit's sutras were interrupted. Throughout Gensokyo... and from Tokyo to Taiwan... Australia to Greenland... from Antarctica to the north pole... human hearts stopped for just a tick.

Then it was over.

The world let loose a sigh of relief.

"Youmu... secure... it." Satori issued the command, and heard the footsteps rushing towards her as she slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

_**The skies of Gensokyo**_

The youkai of darkness had just felt really funny a second ago. Now everything was bright. The smallest fires on youkai mountain in the distance made her wince. It was brighter than it should be.

"I can't make it dark?" Rumia naturally looked up to the moon.

"Oh, it's a new moon already!" Something still didn't look right. It was brighter than she wanted, but darker than most new moons. Odd... she stared up at the sky for goodness knows how long. After a few minutes puzzling over the black sky...she figured it out. She was flying over the few clouds there were, she was sure... she had passed through them a while ago... which meant...

"Someone put out the stars!" Rumia giggled, and thinking no more on it, flew on her merry way.

* * *

_Author's Notes: Whew. I managed to write this very early, but then I spent most of the time I wasn't editing agonizing over whether or not Byakuren would survive or not. Ultimately I decided as above for a variety of reasons. An important one being that though this fic is pretty dark... well, there needs to be contrast. Without a bit of light to see by, how can one explore the dark? _

_Thanks to you readers that put up with such enormous chapters, and find it all interesting enough to read.  
_


	19. Chapter 19

___Author's Notes: Whew... Pardon if the reading is a bit rougher... It's been a busy couple of weeks in the Real World. And I can't really think of much else to say here (Apart from the profound thanks for all those who deem this worthy of reading), so enough of this: on with the story!_  


* * *

_**Kourindou**_

Rinnosuke looked towards the door... He had just heard a knock, but he was really tempted to just let it be. He was hoping to get an early start on sleeping to make up for the extra effort he'd put into making the pot. Still, it was unlikely any of his usual 'customers' was here to visit... and it might be that doll he was warned about... and Youmu had made it clear he didn't wish to get on her bad side.

"Please... someone..." Whoever was at the door was clearly out of breath... well, that decided it. Whoever it was must have a good reason for visiting him so late, and they seemed to need a place to rest. He approached the door, undid the lock, and opened it.

Keine Kamishirasawa collapsed into his startled arms. He nearly dropped her in surprise, and as it was, he had some difficulty holding her up while he closed and relocked the door.

"What in the world...? A rough day, it seems?" Rinnosuke asked...Keine certainly looked like she was only barely alive.

"No... not quite... well... actually, yeah. Alice... she... controlled us. Byakuren tried to stop her... but... but she took us away."

"Well, you're here now, so it can't be that bad" Rinnosuke knew Keine, but only in passing. She had still been a young girl when he had left the village, but she had sought him out on occasion... she felt history was best learned from people who had lived it, and thought herself quite fortunate to know several such people. In particular, Rinnosuke's half-youkai nature had intrigued her...

"Nothing compared to the moon vanishing, no..." Keine looked up to Rinnosuke, her body nearly dead weight... He had been carrying her over to a chair, and she slumped down in it, utterly exhausted.

"The moon vanished? It seems the pot was good enough, then. Good, good. Don't worry, I'm sure it will be back soon enough. It's better than facing an invasion, right?"

Keine weakly nodded in reply. "Still... it interrupted my transformation... and the transformation was more tiring than normal as a result of the plague. It purified me, but then, before I could recover any energy... before I was even done transforming... I changed back. I feel like I've flown to the Hakurei shrine and back using my arms to flap along."

"Well, you're welcome to rest here, I suppose. That plague, though... I heard it was a poison?"

"Maybe... I... Ahhh." Keine gave up saying whatever she had intended to, simply lacking the energy.

"So... when did you become a therianthrope?" Rinnosuke tried to change the subject.

"Not important... need... need to spread the word..."

"Ah, I suppose we don't want more people going off to... where did you say she was taking you?"

"Her master's home... I... I've heard the rumors. If she's opening a way to Makai... she needs to be stopped."

Rinnosuke groaned. He'd spent days trying to stop that already. What more would he need to do for his part to be fulfilled?

"Spread the news where? You'd have trouble making it 10 feet out that door, especially with all the youkai activity that seems to be increasing."

"The mountain... the humans left in the village... she left some behind to stop pursuers, I think... The temple, the shrines... but there's no time!" Keine was wrought with despair.

Rinnosuke would have preferred to sleep in, but it had been a while since he'd gone to the mountain. Perhaps it would be interesting. "Alright. I'll go warn someone... the Youkai Mountain, I suppose? I can at least notify one of their guards, and perhaps they can spread the word from there."

"Please, Mr. Morichika... that... that would be nice..." Keine nodded off to sleep in what looked to be an extremely uncomfortable position. Rinnosuke set up a cot, moved her to it, threw a blanket over her, and headed out. Keine was a trustworthy sort to leave behind, at least. It wasn't as though she could do much in her condition, anyway.

* * *

_**...**_

Satori found herself in a familiar and -very- uncomfortable situation. She was back in the Garden of the Sun... back in Yuuka's grasp, trapped thoroughly by vines, her limbs pulled taught by the tendrils that entwined her. And nearby, Yuuka grinned maniacally, sitting on a flower.

"Well, I must say, I think the look is... growing on me." Yuuka laughed as a flower grew on her outstretched palm. She picked it and it blew away on a nonexistant wind. _Fragile wisps of a new year's hope... all the better when they aren't as they seem._

"Now, then, I'm of the understanding that you believe you defeated my illustrious self." _Impressive, to be sure... even my shadow is not so casually beaten by most..._

Satori said nothing, winded as she was from the constricting plants.

"Well, time for a rematch, then, I think." _After all, I can't have people spreading nasty rumors like that._ Yuuka gestured, and Satori felt the vines around her chest tighten to hold her in place as her left arm felt a steady pull that kept increasing in strength. Her eyes widened with pain, her heartbeat raced as the strain became greater and greater.

"Look on the bright side, you'll only need to go through this three, maybe four more times." Yuuka said, grinning. _And to think, this girl thinks she uses trauma to fight... Oh, I'll show her what traumas the mind is capable of._

Then a sharp tug, and the pressure was gone... as was Satori's arm. Tears rolled down her face as readily as blood flowed out from the wound. Yuuka gave a bit of a disappointed look...

_Ah, but our time is over already? A shame. I look forward to resuming next time, though. _ "Well, I must be off. Sleep well, Satori Komeiji. I'll see you then. And I hope for your sake you don't undo the progress we've made today; I do so hate wasting time." Satori heard as she drifted off...

* * *

_**The Great Hall of Chireiden**_

"Siiiiiis! Sis! She isn't moving. I think she's broken." _Hehe! This is fun, though! Breaks easily __but she's sure silly looking._

"I do so hope she isn't. I'm not through with her... not nearly." _Really, she should count herself lucky to suffer only this._

"I'mma keep playing with her to wake her." _She loves me not..._ Satori's thigh was grasped this time, stirring the satori further towards consciousness. She drearily looked at her surroundings.

"Leave her be. I can't have her -too- exhausted." _After all, if Sakuya couldn't handle it..._ That voice... those thoughts.. that name. Satori looked through blurry eyes at her surroundings. She saw a lot of red... a splotch of yellow... it started to come into focus.

"Just one more?" The other voice... also familiar... Dread began to fill Satori's heart.

"Fine, but that's it." _She'll manage without._ Satori looked left and saw more red... and it quickly resolved itself into the remains of an arm... wearing her sleeve... a good ten feet away.

_Yay!_ Satori felt her hip grabbed firmly, and panic shot through her as she detected, far too late, the intent behind that childish glee... a sharp tug later...

"YYYYEEEEEEAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGG HHHHHHHH!" Satori had the breath to scream, and the pain and shock of losing her left leg gave her the motivation. She moved to cover the wound, using her one remaining arm to try desperately to staunch the bleeding. The shock held her mind prisoner for a time, as her continuing screams filled the great hall.

"Hey sis, I think she's awake!" Flandre looked at the bloody leg in her grasp. "Just pop, comes right off! Just like a human, but with less eyes to break!" _I wonder how it tastes?_ The mind that could only be Flandre Scarlet's pondered as Remilia looked on, slightly disappointed in her sister. The chomping noises sickened Satori as Flandre acted on her curious impulse.

"Oh! Not bad!" Flandre remarked, the sensation of teeth tearing into the flesh of Satori's detached leg reaching Satori through her third eye, giving her that shared sensation, and Satori had to stop screaming to choke back the bile that was rising in her throat.

"Flandre, I've told you before, it's not proper to eat it whole. You don't need the flesh, so just take the blood and give the rest to..." _Sakuya... _ Remilia's mind darkened before she continued, heedless of her sister's continued chomping... Flandre was paying Remilia no mind.

"Now then, Satori. I've decided to let you choose your own fate, for a change..." Remilia goaded, and held an open hand out to her side. "Either you can get Sakuya back for me before you die..." Remilia mirrored her gesture with her other hand... "Or you can play with Flandre again... without spellcards."

Satori hardly even heard Remilia's words, but the vampire's heart made things clear enough. At this point... anything to end the pain. All she'd done for this ungrateful duo... for -everyone-, and still they came after her... hunted her down, just as the other satori had been hunted...

"No..." Satori declared through gritted teeth. She was finished. Why keep putting her life at risk when the only reward was more suffering? To continue living here? Hardly worth the price... better to die and start over... maybe then she'd at least reincarnate as something else... -anything- else...

"Hi, sis! Oh! We've got visitors!" A familiar voice said nearby. Satori opened her eyes... she couldn't tell where the voice had come from... not until she saw a face framed by green hair, wearing a familiar black hat with a yellow ribbon...

"Ko... Koishi...?"

"Hm? Oh yeah, that's me, isn't it? Anyway, what's with the guests here."

_How -dare- she interrupt! _ "Flandre, remove this nuisance." Remilia commanded, angered at Both Satori's refusal and this new intruder.

_'Remove this nuisance...' that was code for... oh yeah! _ "New toy! Whoohoo!" The younger vampire dashed towards... _huh. That's funny. Why would I just drop a perfectly good leg like that?_ The younger vampire shrugged and walked nonchalantly back to Satori's detatched leg and resumed her gruesome meal as Remilia looked very confused...

_Was I seeing double...? No... an afterimage? But then... how did she have both arms and legs..._ "What did you -do? What's going on?" Remilia did not like how this assault was going.

"She's... let's see... well, she's bleeding badly, sweating, and probably not enjoying herself very much. You see, I can tell, because she's got that look on her face. And she's bleeding badly and sweating... but I thought those were obviously eno-"

Remilia looked to the speaker... stared intently at her. "Flandre... Crush her."

Flandre shrugged, turned her own gaze towards the newcomer, held out her right hand... and paused.

Koishi looked a bit confused. "So, why're they eating you, sis? I mean, I know you like being a good host and all, but-"

"Not the time, Koishi! Run! Get out of here!" Satori could sense Flandre's gaze searching Koishi for her eye... intent on crushing it... _Remi never lets me do this anymore. She must really be warming up to me!_

"Why?" Koishi tilted her head slightly. "I mean, I've been getting plenty of exercise. Ohhh, you probably have work to do, that's right."

Flandre was getting very puzzled... and Satori knew why before she even told her sister.

"Hey, sis! She doesn't have any eyes. You're weird, lady." Flandre directed the second comment to Koishi once again.

_She doesn't... that can't be right. Flandre must not be able to see it is all. _ "Then just get her..." _She's been calling Satori 'sis'... that must mean... _"We can use her as a hostage..."

Flandre ran up to a Koishi and gave her a big hug... Koishi returned it, though there was neither warmth nor hate in the gesture. Remilia raised an eyebrow... and had Satori not been busy squirming on the floor in a growing pool of her own blood, she likely would have done the same.

As Remilia watched... she noticed something else odd about this other satori... She focused her mystic gaze, honed sharply over the past few weeks...

"Koishi, get -out- of here!"

"Hey, I ever tell you how I lost my eye?" Koishi looked to Flandre, who shook her head. _Ohh, I hope she tells me! I've never met someone eyeless before._

Remilia grinned as she knelt down beside Satori, and spoke quietly... "Satori... you care about your sister, don't you?" Remilia focused her gaze once again on Koishi, and Satori could see through Remilia's sense... a single, fraying thread attached to Koishi's body... and Remilia followed it back to the other satori, lying bleeding on the ground, where it was but one of hundreds, if not thousands of tangled, twisted scarlet cords, trapping Satori under their weight.

"Leave... her... alone... Remilia..."

"But I still haven't repaid you for harming my sister back then... so I think perhaps I should return that favor? With interest, of course." Remilia grasped the single thread from Koishi and twirled it around her finger... "I've never seen anyone so detached... Why, who knows what would happen if I cut this thread?" Perhaps nothing... perhaps she'd die... perhaps she'd simply leave... perhaps she'd ascend to a higher plane of existence...

Koishi was still telling her tale to Flandre, who was enjoying the tale on a very simple level.

"Or perhaps... just perhaps, I know now what that void in your life is..." Remilia had been waiting for this for a while. Satori was defeated, bleeding out on the ground before her... _She'll live or die on my whim, now... and oh, I think she'll live..._

Satori simply stared... already, the world was getting hazy... a human would be dead after losing this much blood... Satori was getting dangerously close herself. She looked over to her sister, innocently unaware of what was happening, still relating her tale in the closest thing to happiness she could experience.

Remilia continued. "So, what will it be... will you bind yourself to free Sakuya and Patchouli, or will your sister become lost to you? No... to everyone, for only through you can she be found, it seems. Your decision now... if you refuse or die... I'll sever this thread." Remilia rolled her fingers over the last connection Koishi had to the world... the connection to her sister...

Satori's vision was dotted with stars and tunneling badly... She had been willing to die... but threatening Koishi like that... with a fate no one would know... a fate no one -could- know.

"Remilia... I hate you. But I'll do it." Satori managed to utter out with some of her last, rasping gasps. Satori felt Remilia's fate magic take hold, and saw through the vampire's eyes as a scarlet thread spun around Koishi's thread, seeming to reinforce it, but Satori couldn't help but see it as a stranglehold... she had just made a deal with a devil, and that devil wasn't being subtle about her victory.

"Yes, just in case you somehow decide to try and change the fate I've bound you with, I decided to keep your sister involved a little longer. Well, then, So glad we could come to an agreement!" Remilia's weighty gaze slid off of Satori, though her presence was heavier than a shackle... Suddenly, Satori's gaze returned to normal... and she felt much better. Her left limbs were still unattached, but she could think clearly again, and the disgusting pool of blood was gone.

"I thought you might think a little clearer with your blood back inside you. Sealed up that wound, too, but you'll need to reattach your limbs. Can't have you fighting without full power, after all."

"...Thanks..." Satori's dry tone betrayed her hatred... no, her loathing of the Scarlet sisters. She cast the spell she had learned from Byakuren, and winced as her lost arm and leg regrew... and suddenly panic seized her. _ "I do so hate wasting time."_ Satori quivered in fear and stood shakily.

Flandre had returned to pick up Satori's leg. _Oh, wow, how rude of me! _ She turned to offer it to Satori. "Want a bite?"

Satori's stomach churned and her head spun. "No... no, that's fine, Flandre... You've... um... already eaten part of it, you see?"

Flandre broke the knee off of the leg, the wrenching, grinding, ripping noises as it tore loose...Satori couldn't turn her gaze away. She then offered the calf and foot to Satori, keeping the thighbone to herself. "Here, I haven't chewed on this part, yet."

Satori's response was simple, and managed to convey her feelings quite well without any words at all.

She fainted.

* * *

And found herself surrounded by vines.

* * *

_**Chireiden**_

"Well, fine. She doesn't need to be conscious for the trip back to the surface." Remilia muttered, using magic to pick up Satori's body and drag it through the air behind herself.

"Stop! Where are you taking Satori!" The voice was quite familiar...

"Wherever I damn well please. We have an agreement she needs to fulfill." Remilia was not about to let Satori slip out of her grasp... not from the efforts of some half-ghost.

"Then it can wait until she's rested..." Youmu stared at Remilia, though she was only slightly taller.

Remilia didn't budge. "She can rest when she's finished..."

"And she is! She just saved Gensokyo, and you're just going to drag her off to fix one of your petty problems? I'm supposed to believe that? After the bounty you put out on her... after everything you did to try and stop her? No, I think you can wait." Youmu stood poised, ready to fight over this.

"Of course I -could- wait. But if you think I'm going to stop because of some half-human's words, you're sorely mistaken." Remilia tossed Satori behind her and readied herself for combat... Youmu would likely declare a spellcard duel... and Remeilia would declare herself the winner...

Before any of that could happen, though, Remilia heard the sound of bones breaking behind her. What a mood killer... She'd just been getting into it.

"Flandre, I told you to-" Remilia turned over her shoulder to chastise her younger sister... only to see that Flandre was merely watching the source of breaking bones... Satori's body.

"What are you doing to her, devil?"

"Noth... nothing." Remilia was unnerved as Satori's left arm cracked dozens, then hundreds of times. The flesh on her arm was spotted with blood and bone as some shards pierced through to the surface. The ones that reached the surface then slid along, slicing the arm nearly to ribbons... her hand, meanwhile, was contorting in all manner of unnatural ways, the delicate bones within no longer resembling anything at all.

Youmu was about to call Remilia out on a bluff, but the confused look on Remilia's face lent truth to her words. Instead, the two vampires and half ghost approached Satori's body... Only to be covered in a mass of bone, blood, and meat as her left arm exploded, as though it had been suddenly crushed.

"What... what's going on?" Remilia asked... Youmu wasn't sure, but she tried to wake Satori by shaking her vigorously. Nothing...

Remilia bodily picked the sleeping Satori up by her hair, then slammed her face first into the ground repeatedly. Apart from Satori's left leg's flesh beginning to literally melt off, this seemed to find no more success than Youmu's more passive attempt. Flandre kept watching curiously.

"Sis! Hey, wake up! Sis!" Koishi wasn't wearing her typical carefree face... Remilia could swear there was a bit of... concern in those eyes. Her efforts, too, met with failure, rewarded only by the flesh continuing to slip off of Satori's left leg.

The three of them looked on in horror... Flandre's observation tended more towards idle curiosity... as Satori's left leg rotated, but the obvious breaking of bones was downright normal next to the way the half-melted flesh wound around the limb...

Remilia growled... "Whatever you are, there's no way I'm letting you claim one of my slaves!" Remilia grasped the thread connecting herself to Satori, and pulled, strengthening the relationship that had already been driving so many of their actions even further. Pulling it tighter and tighter, bending her entire mystic will toward the task.

Meanwhile, Youmu looked at the swords she had been holding at the ready... And she recalled the last time she had used them. And realized one more thing that would be worth trying...anything to stop the horror. Youmu hoped and hoped as she swung Hakurouken, it's blade biting deep into Satori's gut...

If nothing else, at least Youmu could perhaps end the horror another way.

"What are you-" Remilia started to scold Youmu, until she realized that her tugging was beginning to have an effect... she braced herself, and with one more mighty pull...

Satori bolted upright, a terrified, agonized expression on her face. Youmu pulled the sword out and looked at it, freshly covered with Satori's blood.

* * *

Satori merely looked at her mangled left limbs for a few moments, taking in her surroundings... It felt like nothing less than a miracle. She cast the healing spell she had become ever so familiar with, comfortable enough with it that she could probably cast it asleep with both hands tied behind her back... and given how things were going, that sort of situation was looking more and more likely.

_She woke up._ Youmu's relieved voice echoed in Satori's mind, while Remilia was more angry; _Who was trying to kill her? They'll regret they made an enemy of me... no one attacks my slaves without facing the consequences... Not before I'm finished with them, anyway._

Satori sighed, taking a deep breath as Remilia mentally ranted. Koishi's embrace startled her, but she warmly returned it.

"You made it back! I'm sorry... I was going to go after you, but then you woke up, so-" Koishi was her normal self, as always.

"Koishi, promise me, please... promise me you won't follow me if that happens again..." Satori gazed into Koishi's empty eyes as she spoke.

"Aw, sis, you know I'm no good with promises. I'll try to remember not to, though!" Koishi nodded with a warm, empty smile, and Satori nodded in return... it wasn't as much of a reassurance, but it was the best she could hope for, given Koishi's condition.

"What happened to you, Satori? We tried-" _waking you up, but almost nothing worked..._

"Well, something clearly... oh." Satori picked up the events of her waking, finally. "Remilia held fate taut, and... Youmu..." Satori felt her mood drop drastically.

"Youmu... the Hakurouken cuts confusion... it... it even worked on Medicine's victims?" Satori felt a surge of anger as she saw how Youmu had reached the conclusion that it might be worth using here.

"Well... yes..." Youmu stammered out, and Satori nearly exploded in anger.

"Argh! We spent a week carefully shaping a memory, when one slash would have had her healthy again? So much time... so much effort! All a waste! And she could have even cast it! No need for anything... -anything- I've done lately! If I hadn't gone to the surface, you and Udonge could have treated her!" Satori was enraged. All the suffering she had endured... all her accomplishments... all her trials... had just had their value slashed to ribbons with a single stroke of Youmu's ancestral blade.

_I... could have fixed them earlier?_ Youmu wasn't feeling especially proud of her failure to realize this.

"YES!" Satori shouted with frustration, hardly soothed by Remilia's thoughts; _I hope she gets over this soon... she still has to throw her life away to get Sakuya and Patchouli back._ Satori glared at the vampire.

"And you! Ohhh, I'm going to enjoy this, but first... Youmu!" Satori barked out the half-ghost's name. "Check on Okuu, Orin, Suika, and Tenshi; they took the hardest drain. I'm going to be leaving now, with Ms. Scarlet here. Tell my pets to continue work; standing orders in place, and just make sure the other two don't cause a ruckus." Satori rattled off the orders, and Youmu didn't even think to object... though... _It's a bit odd leaving a visitor here...? In charge? _

"Don't worry, you're simply continuing to act as a messenger. You should be able to fill in the Yama if she stops by, as well." Youmu nodded and skittered back, then bolted out of the room, sensing the tension that Satori was displaying. Satori turned back to Remilia, who had watched the scene with amusement.

"Now, you. Your sister can hear, too, and mine won't care long enough for it to matter... but I'd rather not bring Youmu into this. The poor girl has a hard enough life already. You're marked for a fate worse than death, now." Satori said, staring directly into Remilia's charming eyes.

_Ha! She thinks to scare me. I beat whatever was keeping her unconscious; I've nothing to fear from it._ Remilia wore a smug grin. "I think I'll be fine with managing my fate."

"You? Should I remind you that it was only you -and- Youmu's blade together that freed me?"

_I could easily have done it on my own._ "I'm the one who controls your fate; not you, and not some-" Remilia was cut off by Satori.

"Ohhh... .I'm really tempted not to warn you... to let you dine on those words. I hate you so much... your childish mannerisms, your shortsighted nature, and your damnable pride!" Satori glared at Remilia, who was becoming a bit incensed herself at the string of insults.

"And why shouldn't I be proud? You eluded me for a time, but you're mine now... Sakuya and Patchouli may be missing, but you'll find them and the culprit will pay... perhaps just as you are now; a puppet to dance on my string." Remilia was so full of herself... And truly, despite several failures, she was closer now than ever to achieving complete victory... or so she thought.

"I told you how much I hate you for one reason; so you can fully appreciate what I'm about to say."

"Oh? And what is that?" Remilia crossed her arms, appearing just as smug as she felt.

"Thank you." Satori prostrated herself before the vampire. Remilia was thrown wildly off guard. _What?_ Satori continued as she rose back to her feet.

"And now to tell you why. You're doubtless aware of a rumor that's been spreading, regarding my victory over a certain denizen of the Garden of the Sun?"

_Hah! She beat Yuuka, and I beat her... just goes to show who's on top of the food chain._

"Don't get ahead of yourself. And if you value anything at all, do not say her name... ah, but that's not quite right either... it's not really hers, is it?"

"What are you babbling about?" _Of course names can have power... I know it better than anyone. But-_

"The one we know is a... pretender to the name, so to speak. A shadow cast by the real one... a shadow that only continues to exist as a result of Gensokyo's unique nature."

_I think she's lost it. Of course, just meeting Yuuka's enough to cause that, it seems._

"No, not hardly. Unfortunately, by defeating her, I've... well, through a series of events, I seem to have caught the eye of her true self."

"What a pity. I still don't see how this affects me." _It's Satori's problem if she's got Yuuka after her._

"She wasn't terribly pleased that someone was trying to wake me up by altering my fate."

Remilia's cocky attitude melted swiftly. "What... no, I just-"

"Oh, you saved me, and I thank you for it. And I thank you for taking my fate and making it your own." Satori gestured to the sturdy link Remilia had reinforced between them. "It means that should I be caught, I know that you, too, will suffer eternally with me. Perhaps the gesture would have been more meaningful if you'd known what you were getting into, but what's done is done."

_No... no, this isn't worth it. Forget her, I'll get that oni to save Sakuya and Patchouli instead._

Satori sighed as Remilia desperately worked to cut the shackles of fate she had placed on herself.

"It won't work. She noticed what you were doing and made a point of warding the effect. Unless you can overpower her, she won't let that bond break. After all, it means another captive for her to torment."

"But... she's nowhere near here! How... -how-! How was she attacking you?" Remilia's composure had shattered as she magically charged her strikes and slashed with all her strength to sever herself from Satori... to no avail... panic began welling up in her mind. _I'm the one who controls fate! My destiny is mine to control, not Yuuka's!_

"She strikes from dreams... I... honestly, I'm still not sure how. If you fall asleep, she'll be able to attack you as well, though, now that you've connected us so. Much to my frustration, I have difficulty remembering much when I wake up after her attacks... Though I think she helped me remember a few things. That reminds me; absolutely do not involve anyone else with us by using your fate magic... in fact, you should probably sever as many connections as you can."

Remilia turned to Satori, anger flashing in her scarlet eyes. "Just why should I listen to you?"

"Because she told me something as I awakened. 'I look forward to seeing your new friend... and all the friends she'll bring down with her.'" Satori's words echoed with a might and presence far beyond her own, and even that mere echo was enough to make Remilia Scarlet, a mighty vampire, fear her position as lord of the night.

* * *

_**Deep in Chireiden**_

Youmu looked at her ancestral blade, the Hakurouken. She still wasn't terribly skilled at using both of her weapons together, but the smaller blade's speed had served her well... and of course, it was terrifically effective against spirits... many of which were keeping their distance from Youmu, as if held at bay by the blade's presence. If what Satori had said was true... then perhaps... perhaps Eirin could be rescued. There was little harm in trying.

Youmu looked at the comatose Lunarian, took a deep breath, and cut a single, smooth line across Eirin's left leg. Almost immediately there was a response... not much of one, but something. Eirin twitched, and uttered something incomprehensible before quieting.

"I... I really hope this is helping..." Youmu braced herself and slashed seven times in quick succession. Eirin now sported a number of minor cuts, but seemed different somehow. Youmu was a bit puzzled... it was almost as though someone else had entered the room, until Youmu recognized the presence she felt... not whole yet, but still...

"It -is- working!" Youmu exclaimed, then calmed herself. She focused her mind, using her two bodies to pick up subtle differences in Eirin's body and spirit... odd spiritual growths and scars. Having found them, Youmu pruned the injuries away with the Hakurouken, the work of several minutes of intense focus.

Finally, she could do no more. Her mind started to slip... she wasn't quite as rested as she had thought, and forced herself to stop. She sheathed her blade and took deep breaths.

"Are you alright? You look like you've been pushing yourself."

Youmu looked up at the speaker as dizziness swarmed her mind. But there was no mistake.

"Eirin? Haaaah... glad it worked." Youmu started to attempt a bow, but her tired mind decided it had done enough for now, and she fell into darkness instead.

* * *

_**Chireiden's Great Hall**_

"How long is this going to take? You said this would be -faster- than flying up to the surface." Remilia was getting impatient, though it seemed the two younger sisters were keeping eachother busy... they had just finished a spellcard duel, it seemed.

"Need I remind you, oh mighty mistress, that you're far faster than I? It's the work of days to get to the surface... it's only been a half hour."

"And I'd be up there already by now. I'm curious how someone as slow as you could ever defeat something that bested Sakuya..." _it should be fun to watch, at least. Not like she could lose, anyway... Her fate is to free Sakuya and Patchouli._

"You see, that's your problem..." Satori tried explaining as she made minor adjustments in her head... she was nearly finished setting up the effect... really, it was terribly slow, but considering the distance she would be going, and the hazards involved... she was willing to take her time. At least it wasn't terribly draining.

"What, I'm too curious?"

"No... you assume that my victory and Sakuya and Patchouli going free are the same thing. It's quite possible I might end up taking their place as prisoners, or I might even die freeing them."

"Pft... your problem, not mine." _As long as they get out safe..._

"Need I remind you once again that our fates are linked thanks to your childish meddling?" Satori glared at Remilia, then pointedly indicated the fate tether between them... Remilia had tried everything to break it, but it just... wouldn't... break. Remilia immediately shouted defensively, fear pervading her mind.

"It's as much your fault as mine! If you hadn't gotten in my way-" _I'd be controlling everything!_

"I don't regret my decision. Well, not that one, anyway. After all, now I've got a powerful vampire as an ally." Satori examined the space in front of her, growing more and more comfortable. Sure, she could just call Ran to do this, but the less Yukari got involved, the better... besides, Ran and Remilia weren't exactly on good terms.

"I am not your ally!" _Just get yourself killed, already!_

"You are, like it or not... and my death would likely bring about yours. My loathing for you is no less than before, but thanks to you, we're on the 'same side'. Really, you should consider the importance of planning ahead... observe now the results of -proper- planning and calculations..." Satori lectured as Remilia glowered. Satori punctuated her final statement by unzipping space in a particular way... the countless eyes that gazed from beyond/between space wandered as Satori stood, grinning.

Remilia was dumbstruck. Absolutely, completely dumbstruck. The only thought that entered her mind was a combination of fear and awe... the very same feeling she herself had inspired in so many.

"Come along now. I have important business to attend to first." Satori gestured to the gap and Remilia, suddenly afraid of this being that commanded Yukari's trademark power, hurried through the gap, dragging a similarly awestruck Flandre behind her... Satori passed through with them, knowing that the gap would close behind her... she had calculated it perfectly... a small triumph, perhaps, but at least it seemed to serve Remilia some humility... and if they would be fighting together, Remilia could use all the humility Satori could shove into the bratty vampire's mouth.

* * *

_**The Moriya Shrine, Hatate's 'office'.**_

Remilia found herself in an unfamiliar, dark room. She had no trouble seeing, of course, but she hardly even had time to notice the tengu in the far corner before Flandre and Satori went through the gap, and it closed immediately behind them... Satori's mad shriek drew Remilia's attention as Satori ineffectually tried to attack Flandre, her blasts of magic illuminating the room as the younger vampire casually dodged.

_What is she doing? Has she gone mad?_ Not waiting to form those thoughts into words, Remilia swiftly slammed Satori loudly into a nearby wall. Before Satori could recover, Remilia had held her by the throat and pinned her against the wall. Remilia couldn't miss the madness in Satori's eyes, but assumed the magic Satori was charging was meant for one of the vampires. _There's no way that will be enough to do anything to me..._

Instead, Satori turned it upon herself, aimed at her third eye. Remilia stood in shock as the spell struck... Fortunately for the fatebound pair, Satori seemed to have trouble aiming, disoriented by Remilia's constant shaking and earlier dizzying attacks... The attack instead blasted a hole in the ceiling.

"And here I thought she was a fuddy duddy who didn't want to play? You keep all the best fun for yourself, big sis!" Flandre said.

"Hey, let go of my sister. She's finally willing to fix herself like I did. Why don't you respect that wish?" Koishi pondered aloud. Satori's maddened gaze turned to Koishi as she spoke, and she calmed, slightly.

"Halt! Leave her alone!" A large white wolf tengu stood in the door, ready to charge in... until she saw her fellow tengu sitting undisturbed in her corner. Almost immediately after, she looked poised to charge again after seeing who the three invaders were. "Satori...? What are you doing to her?" She drew a comically oversized blade... but Remilia could tell she had experience with it.

"I don't know! She's the one who's gone mad!" Remilia called out, and dropped Satori on the ground, where she muttered something quietly, her body limp... Remilia, meanwhile, was more concerned about her surroundings.

"I don't know how you got in here, but you aren't welcome. Move away from Satori, take your sister, and get out of here."

"I don't even know where the hells we -are-! This dumb idiot-" Remilia kicked the muttering Satori hard enough to wind her, and dodged neatly out of the the way of the wolf tengu's immediate retalitory slash, rapid though it was. "Sent us here and went crazy."

"Get out!" Another slash this time, and Remilia casually intercepted it with her right forearm, expecting tengu strength behind it, but knowing a mere blade, no matter the size wouldn't be any real threat to her. Despite this, though, Remilia found herself in shock as the blade severed her hand and forearm clean off, before continuing onward to bite deeply into her chest. Remilia was in shock... that had hurt. Really, really hurt... she shrieked in pain, but there was no followup blow.

Flandre sulked... "You get -all- the fun toys. Never let me share..."

"Hey, you leave sis alone!" A shove pushed the wolf tengu off balance... but from who? Remilia was in pain, Flandre was sulking, and Satori... was in pain? The tengu looked again at the satori, who was clutching her right forearm, which looked rather withered, and hugging her arms to her chest, in as much pain as Remilia... gasping for air just as badly. Then, finally, she saw the person who had shoved her off balance...

"Another satori...? I... I thought she was the last." the tengu's voice was hopeful, rather than hateful... but from the floor, a pain-wracked voice brought those false hopes under control in short order, and drew the tengu's gaze to its speaker.

"She isn't...what you're looking for, Momiji." Satori was straining herself, but she seemed far, far more used to the sort of pain she was feeling than Remilia did. Her eyes were forced shut, though, and she seemed hesitant to even move.

"What is going on in here?" Kanako's sudden presence in the doorway made the room feel very cramped indeed.

"I... somehow, these three came here. I was simply defending Hatate, as ordered." Momiji was at attention, and looked towards Hatate... who didn't even seem to notice the scene taking place mere feet away from her.

"The Scarlet sisters and Satori? How did they get here?"

"For gods' sakes, heal yourself already!" Satori yelled at Remilia... the vampire, still in pain, now seemed at least focused on doing exactly that, while Satori herself chanted an ever-familiar healing spell. Her normal sickly self remained, while Remilia gasped in relief as she closed her own wounds, regenerating her arm with a rather simple effort... her regeneration was truly impresssive.

Kanako and Momiji watched, very confused...

"Alright... It's time for some explanations, I suppose..." Satori begrudgingly admitted. "I didn't want to involve you any more than necessary, but... well, let's go out into another room. And Remilia, could you tell your sister to return home?"

"I could, but-"

"I wouldn't listen? That's about right. Not without a good reason, anyway." Flandre cut her sister off.

Satori, still on the floor, opened an eye and provided the reason Flandre sought with a look towards the vampire, accompanied by a gesture only three people in the room easily recognized. Satori held her right hand out towards Flandre, focusing on something and slowly began closing her fingers. Flandre flinched, and her playful smile was gone, replaced with curiosity and apprehension...

"You've got my eye?"

Satori nodded, and kept closing her hand... A powerful burst of wind indicated that Flandre had wasted no time in leaving the room. Remilia was outright terrified as she asked...

"You... you can see them, too?" _She's... she's just as dangerous as Flandre, then... and running free this whole time..._

"Let's get to more comfortable seating... there's a lot to go over." Satori sighed as she stood and headed to the exit. Everyone else left as well, the tensions ran high. Momiji looked torn as she followed Satori and the others out.

"I'll be back, soon, Hatate." Momiji called back, and much to her relief, Hatate shrugged dismissively as the door closed, locking her again with nothing but the memories passed to her plastered all over the walls.

* * *

_**The Human Village**_

Udonge stirred... The sound around her worried her. An eerie quiet, though she could hear the labored breathing of several other people. Her head whirled as she sat up, and she rested her head in her hands... where she felt a bit of a bump under her hair. It stung a little, but a slight repositioning solved that problem swiftly enough. She must have hit her head at some point... she wasn't terribly sure of most of the details after she had entered the human village.

She had been haunted by dreams of fields full of bodies; some corpses, some living, all badly mangled. An endless stream of people to heal and put to rest... yet it wasn't a nightmare. She had gladly accepted the duty of healing them all, and stuck by that decision now, even as the dream itself faded. She finally lifted her head to see just how much she was remembering had been a dream, and how much had been real.

Much to her relief, only about a dozen people lay in the room. Their injuries ranged from severe to superficial... though Udonge's eye quickly noticed Akyuu, who was crouched in a corner with a blanket thrown over her shoulders... it looked like she'd cried herself to sleep, if her face was any indication.

"You've awakened... are you alright?" Byakuren asked with a weary voice as she entered the room and noticed Udonge. Byakuren was once again dressed in her typical black and white dress, and concern dominated her features.

"I've a little bump on my head, but apart from that, yes. I... I'm glad to see you made it." Visions of Byakuren's mangled body flashed unbidden to the front of Udonge's mind.

"Akyuu told me about it... I owe you my life, it seems. But now... I don't know what to do to help these people. It's clear they were being controlled, but whatever was doing so seems to have left them against me."

"Medicine."

"What, the youkai?"

"Yes. The plague was a poison she concocted... and in the past, she's managed to control people she's poisoned... it's probably what she did here, too."

"Then I was right... it wasn't Alice doing this."

"The puppeteer? Well, she could do it too, I suspect. Not much difference between a corpse and a doll, after all, and these people weren't far from being corpses themselves."

"She wasn't acting herself, though.."

"Oh, you mean she was here? That... oh." Udonge frowned. "That... explains quite a lot. Excuse me a moment... I need to speak with someone."

Byakuren nodded and knelt on the ground quietly and patiently.

"Reisen, are you awake? "

_Yes._ A quiet mental nod accompanied it, though Reisen's mental voice wasn't nearly as strong. _Are you alright? You're not coming through very clearly._

"I've just a minor head wound, that's probably it. I just wanted to be sure... You said Alice had stolen away Medicine Melancholy and Patchouli, right?"

_That's right... I think Remilia left a while ago too, now... probably to go get them back. It's... kind of spooky here... even most of the fairies have left for a while, now that the guard and myself are the only other ones ever awake here, well, and that demon, I guess?  
_

"Remilia went after them? I'd almost pity Medicine, if not for what she's done. Anyway, thanks... I'll try and keep in touch, but it looks like I'm going to have my hands full."

_Me too... be careful._ The mental connection faded.

"Well, Byakuren, I think... well, I think Alice may be being controlled by Medicine."

"That would do a lot to explain how oddly she was acting... and why I couldn't tell how she was being possessed."

"Yeah... it seemed like she has pretty limited control over them at the manor... though... over this many... she's improved quickly."

Byakuren winced a bit before pointing something out. "These are... only the ones she left behind... to stop me. All of the others followed Alice back towards the forest of magic."

"How... how many of them?" Udonge was worried... earlier, Medicine had had trouble controlling even three... a dozen was bad enough.

"How many live in the human village?" was Byakuren's sad reply.

"No... all of them? Everyone?" Udonge couldn't believe it... How could Medicine be so strong? Sure, she had been surprisingly powerful for a newborn youkai when Udonge had first met her, but even so, to have improved so quickly... something was amiss.

"As far as I could tell... after I woke up, I looked around the town, and apart from a few youkai here and there, the place was deserted."

"What, no mention of myself?" Mima floated calmly into the room, wearing a cheery expression to combat the grim atmosphere in the room, and truly, it seemed to lighten the mood considerably.

"Ah, Mima... I was just about to mention you, of course. My thanks again for carrying all of us back here." Byakuren gave a curtsy to the spirit.

"Nah, nah, don't worry about it. Little effort, really. Now, it seems you've been discussing their condition with our good friend here?"

"Just so. She thinks that Medicine Melancholy may be controlling them."

"She's done it before, you see. Curing the poison would fix them, but it's far beyond my skill. Perhaps if my master were here..."

"This all explains why Akyuu is still here then, I suppose, doesn't it?" Byakuren mused.

"I don't understand... her condition was no better than anyone else's."

"Until I healed her, you mean? It was right before... everything happened." The Magician's face darkened for just a brief moment, before Mima's radiant smile bore it away as she spoke.

"Well, I think you have your solution, then. Hop to it! I'll go make sure no youkai get any funny ideas." Mima, satisfied things were under control, left the room...

Byakuren approached the nearest victim... if they were right, then purging the poison should free them from control. Byakuren buried the fear she felt as she looked into the face of the young man who had put out her eye ... fought against the memories that screamed of the danger this man presented, despite his heavy restraints, preventing his taut muscles from moving even a little. Fought to avoid casting a spell to destroy that terrifying visage.

She conjured instead a spell of healing... it did little to heal the flesh, but it purified the recipient... it had worked well enough on Akyuu... and it bore similar results now. Of course, she wasn't quite expecting the fellow's reaction when the poison vanished. He relaxed, thankfully no longer trying to break his bonds... and then he burst into tears.

"I'm sorry... Oh gods, I'm sorry." He hid his head in his arms as he curled into a fetal position. He repeated his apologetic mantra over and over as Byakuren looked confused.

"Sorry about what? It's alright... you can tell me."

The man kept his head firmly buried as he shook it. "an eye... I'm sorry..." Byakuren winced... the man remembered?

"It's not your fault... you were being controlled... please, don't worry yourself... really, I'm fine." Byakuren tried to comfort him, but with no success. She looked to Udonge with a worried expression.

"If I had to guess, being forced to commit atrocities against your will while fully conscious and unable to do anything to stop it seems like it could be traumatizing..." Reisen had to confess. She'd been worried this might happen after realizing Medicine was behind the assault.

"I... I hadn't even considered what they must have felt..." Byakuren looked towards the floor, ashamed. "Oh gods... then the ones who broke their bodies against mine..." Revulsion filled her, over what she had done... and what she had failed to do by letting the others escape...

"I don't know if Medicine intended to scar their spirits, but there's no doubt she has. Still... you should remove them from their poisonous prisons... at least then they'll be able to cry." Udonge explained, partaking in the luxury of tears herself, as Byakuren's own tears marked her path to the next victim of Medicine Melancholy.

* * *

_**Chireiden**_

Youmu looked around the room and felt very, very small. Not because the others dwarfed her in height (though such a thing was far from unusual in any case), but because compared to an oni, a celestial, and an ancient Lunarian, a half-phantom was a minor being indeed.

Not to say Suika and Tenshi were looking their best. They were both visibly drained and had yet to fully recover from whatever Satori had done to them. Eirin was present of course, but even her normally looming presence was merely... overshadowing instead. Eirin had just heard a brief summary, and had remained quiet through it as Suika, Tenshi, and Youmu (when prompted by the other two) had explained the situation, little as they knew of it.

"And Satori's already gone... a shame... I'd have liked to meet her. In particular, I'm worried about one thing... This spell you said she cast..." Eirin prompted.

"Yeah... it was big, for sure." Suika's assertion was delivered between gulps of Sake from her bottle.

"And you said the pot was made to house the earth... and she put a clay orb in it before triggering it..."

"That's right. She told me it was the same spell you cast during the Imperishable Night Incident."

Eirin sank her head into her hands. "That's not the spell I used."

"Well... I mean, it worked though, right? We haven't heard anything about demons arriving..." Youmu piped up quietly. Eirin raised her head to look at the ghostly gardener before replying.

"Yes, well, The spell she used would stop the moon and the earth from being connected. But... it might have been overkill. With the full moon finished, she needs to cancel it as soon as possible. You see, the spell I used created a minor spatial distortion loop, disrupting the connection between the earth and the moon."

"Well, that's what we wanted, right?"

"But it's not what she did. The spell I used might take me a few days to cast, and she'd certainly have needed help to cast it as quickly as she did-"

"It was incredible..." Tenshi was still rather awestruck it seemed.

"Please focus, Ms. Hinanai. Before I decided to use the spell I ended up with, I researched several other spells, but deemed them impractical for one reason or another. The spell Satori used was so judged for two reasons. First of all, it took too much energy. It would have taken me well over a month to cast using my own energy... for a spell that might need to be cast every month, that was simply too long."

"I suppose Satori's just better, then, eh?" Tenshi commented. Eirin did her best to let the comment slide unnoticed, but Tenshi could tell it was a clear blow to Eirin's pride, and the Lunarian did not like being reminded of that. Eirin's reply came out as nearly a snarl.

"The -other- reason is that it was too dangerous. You see, it literally exchangess the earth and the clay orb. There's now an earth sized piece of clay orbiting the sun, and a small orb of the earth inside of that pot. Were the pot to be destroyed, the magic around it would be broken, and that exchange would become permanent."

"I think I can see why this is a problem." Suika was no genius, but... "Making the earth into something that could accidentally get stepped on sounds dangerous."

"If only that were the only risk, I might have thought it acceptable. After all, the spell of eternity on Eientei would have protected that pot as well as it did all the others. The dangers, though, go far beyond that. Take for instance, that pot. How much light does it let through?"

"It's a clay pot. What are you, stupid? None, of course." Tenshi was not terribly impressed.

"And how long do you think the earth can survive with no sunlight?" Eirin's words suddenly made Tenshi feel a fool... Eirin continued... "How well can people navigate without the stars? How well can Youkai live without the moon?" Every point hammered home the enormity of the situation, making Tenshi feel smaller and smaller.

Youmu, meanwhile was growing very concerned. "So... maybe we could... heat the pot to help keep the Earth warm...?"

"A good idea, but it wouldn't help so much. You don't understand how reliant plants are on the cycle of day and night... the harvest will be ruined soon, even if the plants don't simply freeze. People will lose track of time... Youkai will lose their power, and humans will walk around blind once fuel runs out. And yet, this isn't the worst part..."

"You're just a bundle of cheer, aren't you?" Suika jabbed, but the more sober people around her didn't find it terribly funny. She shrugged and took another deep pull form her gourd.

"The worst part is... ah, well, beyond you folks to understand, I suspect. To summarize, the Earth is in a stable orbit. That clay orb has different physical properties from the Earth. It's not a perfect replacement, you see... And when the spell is undone, they'll once again swap places. But if more than a few hours have passed... right, I said I'd summarize..." Eirin scolded herself and got to the point.

"After just a few hours, undoing the spell won't stop the Earth's doom. Another spell, at least as powerful, perhaps moreso, would need to be used in short order to correct the error. Failure to do so would certainly mean the end of all life on Earth within a few decades... sooner, if the spell wasn't canceled within a few hours of its casting."

"That... that would be bad." Youmu managed to stutter out the obvious.

"Well, that's bad, but I mean... it could be worse." Tenshi was a bit unnerved, but seemed confident in her own safety, at least. Until Eirin spoke again, of course.

"Heaven would meet the same fate, you idiot."

"Okay, so we tell her to cancel the spell. No problem... Just... do any of you... ah... know where she went?" Suika asked, only to see several heads shaking at once.

"Thaaaat's going to be a problem."

"Maybe some of her pets will know... we cannot delay any longer. Search around, ask around... She may be on her way to the surface; some of us should start returning now, and the others can contact them when they find out what's going on. I take it you all know some basic communication spells?" Eirin was rather disappointed to learn that only Suika nodded.

"Alright, fine. Suika, you stay down here, then..."

"I'll stay here as well... I promised Satori I would watch over Chireiden." Youmu suggested.

"Alright. Tenshi and I will return to the surface now, then. Let us know as soon as you find anything out."

The four stood and nodded. The gravity of the situation left them plagued with doubts, and they hurried to tell Satori to dismiss the spell that may yet doom those it was meant to save.


	20. Chapter 20

_**A Cafe in Kyoto**_

"Sorry I'm late, Merry. It's just a few minutes, though, so no hard feelings, right?" Renko Usami eagerly sat down. "So what's go you so excited?"

"Well... I heard about something, and... well, you're pretty good with physics and astronomy. Maybe I'm wrong, but..." Maribel Haern said indecisively as she fidgeted with her book bag.

"Go on."

"Well, have you heard of the 'Time of the Empty Sky'?"

"Of course. All the stars, even the moon, the sun, and the heavens themselves seemed to vanish for a while. After it was all done, there was some distortion in the Earth's orbit and that of the moon, but they resolved themselves. It's what led to the development of Pollock's Law of Magneto-Gravitational Stability. It was caused by the Earth traveling through a thick cloud of interstellar dust... but it's kind of outside of your field. What brings it up?"

"Well, do you really believe that? What you just told me? That it was some freak astronomical event?" Maribel asked in that pointed way she always did whenever...

"You had a dream about it?"

"Yeah... well... I mean, it's not what the dream was about, but something happened in it... When I woke up, I did some research, and..."

"What was the dream about, then?"

"I... I'd rather not talk about it, but you deserve to know. I dreamt..." Maribel lowered her voice to a whisper. "That I was part of a mob... and I helped beat a woman to death with my bare hands."

Renko winced... she was having a hard time imagining her friend commiting any violence at all, let alone losing herself to a mob mentality, but Merry was clearly thinking differently.

"It hurt... it hurt a lot, and I couldn't stop... my body wouldn't listen. Eventually, I was thrown off by someone else, but even after that, I just kept swinging wildly, unable to even stand... it hurt... I must have bruised myself badly considering how much it hurt." Maribel's pain was clearly more than merely physical.

"You... you're worried this wasn't just a dream." Renko's guess was spot on, given Maribel's reaction. Her friend turned pale and averted her eyes as they started to leak tears, before nodding.

"If... if it -is- another world... then I'm a murderer..."

"Merry, you wouldn't do that, alright? You weren't in control, so it probably -was- just a normal dream."

"And if it wasn't? I... I need to know, Renko. I need to know. Will you... will you come with me?"

Renko had honestly gotten to be a little afraid of Merry's power. After their adventures in Torifune and its fallout, Renko began to feel that maybe they'd been learning things they really oughtn't know. Yet, at the same time, her inquisitive nature demanded she continue... she hesitated only a brief moment before realizing that she'd never forgive herself if she refused.

"I will. But... what does any of this have to do with the Time of the Empty Sky?" Renko's assurance relieved Merry, who wiped the tears from her eyes before continuing.

"A short while after I was thrown away from our victim, I was bound... and then, trapped, unable to move. After a while, something happened... time seemed to stand still, and I felt like the world was teetering on the edge of hell... then I saw the night sky vanish completely and instantly. I... I think... it might have fallen over that precipice."

"Well, the speed with which the heavens blacked out was the major criticism of the leading theory I mentioned, but no alternate explanations have been put forth... least of all magic."

Merry nodded. "Well, it's possible, though, right? I mean, I'm pretty sure it's not a virus that's making me hallucinate places and bring back souveniers. And, well... It's why I'm so worried this wasn't just a dream."

"What souvenier did you bring back this time, then?"

"Well..." Maribel took out a bloodstained, torn rag... Renko didn't recognize it until Merry identified it. "I was tired when I got home, so I went right to bed. This is what was left of the skirt I was wearing... the rest of it was binding my arms and legs tightly. I had to wriggle myself to the bathroom to get a hold of a razor and cut myself free... and my body ached... I was badly bruised... my arms and legs especially."

"You woke up bound... in torn clothes... in your own room...? Merry, have you called the police?"

"And get sent back to the ward? No, I haven't. And my doors and windows were all locked, unbroken... nothing was stolen, nothing odd or out of place... except me." Merry was getting worried again.

"That's why you think it was more than a dream..."

"Yes... I mean... I'd -rather- it was just a dream..."

"What? You're saying you'd rather you slept through some guy picking the lock on your door, tearing your clothes off, binding you with them, beating you, then leaving and locking the door behind him? Because that's just about the only -other explanation I can think of."

"Better a victim than a murderer."

Renko show just how much she'd tolerate such talk by slapping Merry across the face. "Don't you dare think being a victim is fine! Get a hold of yourself! Murderer or not, you're still you." Renko quickly calmed down, and cupped Maribel's hands in her own as she looked deep into her friend's eyes... those eyes that saw so much. "This is an odd case, and we'll get to the bottom of it, but don't put yourself down like that! You're more valuable than you realize, Merry."

Tears started from Maribel's face again...

"I'm sorry, Renko... you're right. But... at the very least I need to find the truth... and pay my respects, if it comes to that... perhaps there's some way I can make up for what I've done, if I've done it."

"That's a better start, but don't think I'm going to let them punish you unreasonably. Which, given what you're already doing to yourself over what you think you -might- have done, would involve punishing you at all, really."

Maribel nodded. "Thank you, Renko. You're the only one who can understand what I'm going through..."

"That's not true, but I'm sure the only one other than you around right now. Let's get going then, shall we?" Renko asked, and Maribel smiled as she looked at her friend with those eyes that saw more than they should...

* * *

_**The Moriya Shrine**_

_Well, at least he's- wait, is that Satori?_ Sanae's loud thoughts boded ill. _It is! Hah!_ "We've got you now!" The shrine maiden pounced at Satori, and started to slap binding talismans on her, only to find that Suwako wasn't backing her up like she had expected. For that matter, restraining the youkai was far easier than she'd thought it would be.

"Suwako, come on! She walked right into our hands! Lady Kanako'll be-" _So pleased! We'll have plenty of money now! Remilia's bounty is ours!_

_Sanae... please be quiet... that girl needs to pay some more attention to her surroundings..._ Suwako was trying to cover her face out of shame.

"I'll be what?" Kanako's voice struck Sanae as she looked over her shoulder, pleased as punch.

"Lady Kanako! May I present to you our ticket to financial freedom?" Sanae bowed deeply to her goddess. _What a stroke of luck!_

"Oh, right... I guess that's another thing for Sakuya to do." That voice... Sanae looked up as Remilia Scarlet kept speaking. "She'll need to take down all those bounty posters, now."

"Well of course! We've captured her for you!" Sanae wasn't quite catching on. Suwako had done so far sooner. _Sanae... she obviously brought Satori here, herself... of -course- she's not going to pay us... _

"If you had brought her to me -before- I had to go traipsing through the underground myself, -then- you'd have earned the reward. As it is, all you're doing is annoying me. Free her, and sit down." Remilia's voice was trembling slightly, apparently out of rage... but Satori knew it was just as much fear... fear of Satori... of drawing her ire. Satori could get used to this sort of fear... a fear born of respect for her power rather than someone's own insecurities... It was a pleasant change.

"Hey, if you think I'm going to take the word of a devil-" _You're in for another surprise, little lady!_

"Sanae, calm down. She's telling the truth. Now free Satori." Kanako's words left little room for debate, but Sanae wasn't completely cowed.

"But... but..." _I went through all that effort!_ Kanako's stern gaze finally silenced the rest of Sanae's complaints... for everyone bar Satori, who continued to hear the shrine maiden complaining about how she had earned the reward, even as she freed Satori from her confinement.

**I apologize on her behalf. She's... a little too eager at times.** Kanako looked to Satori for a reply, and Satori gave it; a simple, understanding nod.

"Alright, time for a few explanations..." Satori looked over her audience... Kanako and Suwako were patient, but determined to learn what was going on, Sanae was sulking, Remilia was still frightened both at Satori's power and her madness... and her own recently demonstrated weakness, not that she would admit any of this. Momiji was concerned for Satori, having forgotten about Koishi already, and Koishi was... well, somewhere, Satori was sure.

"First, you're wondering what happened in that room and how we got there. That story starts with the method of arrival. I used one of Yukari's gaps- yes, it's just as hard as you'd think. Something... 'inside' the gap- no, that's not a good description of it's spatial positioning, but I'm not sure what is. Anyway, something 'inside' was... doing... something to me..." Satori found herself searching for words, much to the annoyance of everyone present.

"I'm so happy we have such an eloquent speaker to tell us -why you tried to kill my sister!-" Remilia barked out the point she cared about. Satori did her best to continue despite the interruption... and the half dozen questions being thought out.. .many of them would be answered over the next few minutes... though she already knew there would only be more after that.

"I was losing control of myself, alright? While I... mostly managed to fight it off, I was mentally weakened upon arrival, and Hatate's suicidal thoughts threw me off balance."

_Hatate's Suicidal?_ ** That poor girl... I never should have made her do that.** _Now she wants to die? What has Momiji been doing all this time?_

"Ah. She's having difficulty coping with Aya's torture. Yes, she's been captured... but not found out it seems. Just a random demonic victim among demons, they seem to believe. Hatate is lying to both herself and all of you, though, in thinking she's fine... her heart told me otherwise with its wishes for death. Its hard to get a word in edgewise with all of your questions." Satori rubber her head, hardly even taking a breath before she continued, allowing no room for spoken interruptions, at least.

"I felt a terrible urge to kill myself. That my power would harm not only myself, but everyone else as well. For some reason, I thought killing Flandre or myself would solve that problem equally well... and having had a bit of time to think about it, I think I know why." Satori took a deep breath. Remilia was already getting the right idea, but the others simply didn't know enough, yet.

"Flandre has the power to destroy things by destroying what she knows as their 'eyes'... and she sees them, always... and by reading her mind, I can see them as well."

_She really... wasn't bluffing, then..._

"That is correct, Remilia. While Flandre is in my presence, I share that power... and it terrifies me like nothing else."

"You have the Shinigami's Sight?" Sanae asked, drawing curious looks. Satori would let Sanae explain that particular phrase later...

"Flandre does, more or less, and I do through her. It frightens me so because it offers a painless, instant, complete death. Remilia... you said Flandre's used it before... care to explain the results of that?"

"I can't. There's no proof she even used it... just... nothing where it seems there should be something..." Remilia tried to to keep herself calm as she spoke, and indeed, to anyone other than Satori, she had every indication of being completely in control of herself... but Remilia's heart was confused and frightened. She looked around, and noting most of her audience, opted for an analogy.

"Most of you are familiar enough with the outside world to understand this. One can't just see a black hole... its presence can only be inferred. In much the same way, I can't find any targets of Flandre's power... I can only guess that she's used it. Recently, she's gotten better at holding back... I suspect she now more traditionally destroys the target, rather than destroying what it is. As for full use of her power, I've only found two possible instances of its use." Remilia intended to say no more, and Satori could tell that it had gotten the point across to all except Momiji... though a question burned in all their minds. _**What two instances...?**_

"Neither are of either concern to you." Satori answered the unspoken question before continuing. "But now you understand the threat Flandre poses if left unchecked... and the power I feared to have."

Sanae couldn't help but ask. "You said you used one of Yukari's gaps, but I saw neither her nor her shikigami... so if you can control -that-, what difference would there be having access to Flandre's power as well? Not to make light of your sister, but Yukari's a bit more... well..." _Terrifying. Flandre at least keeps quiet, apparently. _None among those present favored Yukari.

Satori wasn't sure how to explain it... and really she'd have to know what went wrong with her gap before she could claim to be certain, but... "Yukari's methods are calculating and slow... Flandre's and instinctive and sudden. And I'm not one to kill in cold blood... but in the heat of the moment, surrounded by the pain and death of a battle? I suspect I wouldn't hesitate to annihilate someone that was causing me pain. Flandre has lived with that power her whole life, and Remilia has worked hard to prevent it from going out of control." Satori revealed, much to Remilia's surprise.

_How did she-? She took it from my mind... of course. I've never told anyone._ Remilia's mind flitted about how she had painstakingly warped the fates of the entire mansion and all its permanent inhabitents... warded them carefully against Flandre's power by fating them for other ends. The part of the basement Flandre lived in was built to endure, physically and magically... and Remilia had ensured its fate was woven into Flandre's own.

"Flandre spends her time in the basement because she can't see its weaknesses. I asked her to return quickly and hypnotized her as subtly as I could to ensure she went straight back. Given the speed with which she left the room, I suspect she's already now relaxing in her home."

"Well, that answers some of it..." _But... why was Momiji able to hurt me with that little toy of hers? It's not even silver or enchanted or anything!_

"You'll want to ask me that again when we have a smaller audience. Suffice it to say your strength is my weakness, and vice versa." Satori quickly addressed Remilia's concern... which did little to ease it.

"But it also seems the ritual worked; the moon was blocked. Save your thanks for later." Satori wasn't holding her breath for 'later' being sooner than 'never', but it felt like the proper thing to say. "I should probably undo the spell as soon as I can... unfortunately, until I do a small -favor- for Remilia here, I can't head back to do so."

_Shouldn't blame me; she agreed to help_. Remilia was regaining a little of her composure, now that Satori had told the vampire of Satori's limitations. Fine, Satori had other ways of manipulating the bratty kid... it seemed Remilia didn't quite fully grasp the full implications of Satori's limitations.

"Well, we probably shouldn't delay you any longer?"

"Thank you for understanding. Also, it seems you've done as I asked... good." Satori directed the last comment to Kanako. **Why does she want us to have a shrine in the netherworld? Ghosts don't give proper faith...**

"That has a lot to do with it, but I'm afraid telling you the plan might ruin things." The border of the puzzle was nearly complete... but finishing the interior would be no small task.

"What, little miss 'can't keep her mouth shut' suddenly clams up? What are you hiding?" _Don't think I've forgotten you're a youkai!_ Sanae's excitability was already beginning to break through her obedience to Kanako. Satori looked between the two goddesses, who were sharing the opinion that Sanae was being a bit rude to their guest... they'd try to properly humble her later.

* * *

"Lady Kanako, may I enter? I have been asked to deliver a message." A grizzled voice asked. Kanako was thankful for the interruption.

"Of course." Kanako waved the door open, and in marched a white wolf tengu. _A lot of guests... Well, this seems the sort of thing they may wish to know as well._ It seemed he hadn't yet noticed Satori... or at least that she was one... he quickly bowed, and delivered his message.

"A messenger representing the human village has arrived. He says they've nearly all been abducted by Alice Margatroid, who wishes to bring them to her 'master'." The messenger's news sent Sanae's heart into a panic. _No... not -everyone-, surely. Goddesses please... not him, too._

Sanae asked... she could hope... after all, a messenger had come from the village... "What... was the messenger's name?"

"Rinnosuke Morichika. He said he was passing on the news for Keine Kamishirasawa." The tengu stated matter of factly, as Momiji quietly led him away to receive a more thorough debriefing. Sanae's heart sank, but just a little... but she knew what she had to do. Satori found herself pleased a bit as Sanae let her heart speak.

"Kanako, Suwako... I... I need to go to the human village." Sanae bowed her head swiftly but respectfully. Kanako and Suwako exchanged glances... **She probably wants to go check in on her boyfriend. I can't blame her, and having her there would be good to gain more support among any who -were- left behind...** _Of course she -thinks- she does... why doesn't she realize that she can't afford to slack off like this at times like these. Her duties come first; she needs to train._

"Of course, go ahead." "Absolutely not, Sanae." Kanako and Suwako's conflicting responses both surprised each other and confused Sanae. _What... should I do?_

Satori took the opportunity to speak up. "Just go, Sanae. You would never let yourself live it down if you didn't check in on him." Sanae nodded, and without hesitating even a moment more, quickly flew from the scene, leaving Kanako and Suwako staring at the satori youkai before speaking in unison.

"This is none of your business."

"This is every bit my business; If Sanae is carrying too many doubts, she won't be able to perform any miracles to help out, now will she?"

"I appreciate what you've done, but-" **I can't just give you Sanae.**

"I'm not asking for her; I'm asking for her to be available as a backup. Things can go wrong very, very easily... just because demons are invading doesn't mean other incidents won't happen. Others like Medicine may see it as a prime time to attack. Reimu isn't available, and I'm not sure how soon Marisa will be capable again, so Sanae may need to step up."

_All the more reason for her to train._ "That's why we need her -here-."

"Suwako, you aren't human and never have been... you can't hope to understand them."

"What, but a youkai can?" _Or has she forgotten what she is? I doubt that._

"Of course I can't... but I've learned that they can never silence their hearts... and either they end up following their hearts anyway, or they swiftly lose themselves to despair. Better she resolves this issue now then when she's needed, don't you agree?"

"Suwako, calm down. She's right... Sanae would just sneak out at night if we didn't let her... she -was- sneaking out at night to keep us from finding out, remember?" Kanako, at least, seemed to realize the futility of trying to keep her priestess on a tight leash.

"Besides, what's done is done,now. You can hate me for it if you want; you're not the first person to hate me, and you won't be the last." Satori explained as Momiji reentered the room.

"Where did-" _Sanae go?_

"She had business to attend to." Satori interrrupted, and Kanako nodded in agreement before asking Momiji.

"Alice's master, he mentioned. She's a magician... do you think she meant a demon?" Momiji returned with an uncertain shrug. _I'm not that familiar with Alice, unfortunately._

Satori was confused... She'd read Alice's heart... and it knew no master but itself. Well, it -had- been several weeks, things may have changed. Remilia seemed even more confident that Alice was working for the demons than the others. _She must be working for a demon. Her kidnapping Patchouli and Medicine just clarifies it._

Then a troublesome thought occurred to Satori. Medicine Melancholy... from all she'd heard, the doll's grudge was insurmountable... would she really rely on Demons to take her revenge, though? The fact that she had disappeared with two powerful magicians... one with direct ties to Makai, was worrisome enough. That it was Alice who had raided the village... No, Satori knew Alice... And the last thing she would ever have wanted to bring upon the humans of the village would be meeting her 'mother'. Patchouli, then? No... the witch had been quite comfortable avoiding any significant interaction with Makai... but if Medicine Melancholy had been the 'abductor'... or the tempter... then it all made sense.

Satori's heart sank. If Medicine Melancholy had somehow convinced Alice and Patchouli to help her, then Medicine had not one, but two powerful links to Makai. No... worse than that... Satori's heart nearly froze as the realization slammed into her like a train hitting a bird.

Medicine Melancholy had the Grimoire of 'Alice'.

Time suddenly became critical. Every minute the doll had access to that book was another minute closer the world was to destruction. Knowing what Satori now knew about casting from life energy, Alice's own body could be used to fuel an unbelievable amount of magic, given her origins... and if Medicine Melancholy hated humans... hated -Alice- too much... she might just do it...

"I don't like the look you're getting on your face, Satori..." Kanako wasn't sure she wanted to hear what Satori would say.

"Time has become of the essence. Medicine Melancholy's hatred may be the end of Gensokyo if it isn't brought under control.

"Medicine?" ** What's she got to do with anything?**

"It's too long a story to tell now. Remilia and I will be going. Take care of Hatate, keep her on the job, and prepare for the worst. Demons may yet have a way through to Gensokyo." Satori explained as she left, Remilia following her, the vampire's old pride already nearly fully recovered already.

* * *

_**Outside the Moriya Shrine**_

Satori pointed to the black sky as she spoke to Remilia.

"To answer the question that was burning in your mind, I suspect the moon's disappearance has weakened you, as vampires seem to be particularly effected by the moon. The other possibility, perhaps exacerbating the situation, is that by tying our fates together, we've acquired a bit of each other's vulnerabilities and strengths. And, I think that blade may have been spiritually significant as well. Satisfied?" Satori looked to Remilia, who was apparently still in shock at the complete lack of a sky.

"You... can't be serious. What did you do?" _The whole sky! Gone!_

"Don't worry so much. I'll be able to dismiss it as soon as this is done and I'm allowed to go back home. Though I think we'd best hurry. This level of darkness probably isn't something most people are comfortable with."

"I'm fine with it... but... I suppose I'd like the moon back. Yes, fine, let's hurry off to... what, the human village?"

"Soon, yes, but for now we need to go to the Garden of the Sun. I don't have a gap prepared to go there, unfortunately, so you'll need to carry me."

"I'm not some beast of burden! I'll carry you nowhere... and certainly not into the waiting maw of-" _Yuuka Kazami!_

Satori was not in the mood for argument. She reached out, grabbed something in the air and pulled. Hard. Remilia felt herself being pulled... watched as Satori tugged on the fate bond the connected them... the one that Remilia had failed to sever. Satori had no difficulty at all inverting the thread... not cutting it, but repurposing it to reverse the roles Remilia had assigned. Remilia was stunned at the sudden reversal of Satori's mood... and their positions.

"That's it. I'm done respecting you and your insane, childish fantasies of power. There is too much at stake, now." Satori declared. "You're going to take me where I need to go. You are now my slave. Do you understand, slave?" Satori glared into Remilia's eyes as she spoke. Remilia struggled against her new fate... tried to change it back to how it was... how it should be. But she couldn't bring herself to really, truly fight it... and so was doomed to failure.

"What have you done?" Remilia shrieked.

"I was hoping you'd have figured that out already, but perhaps that was a bit much to expect from a child. Flandre isn't the only person whose power is accessible to me in close proximity. Yours requires a bit more finesse, but after all those times you've used it against me... with as strong of a bond as we have between us? It was nothing at all to use it against you."

"I'll undo it! Just you watch!" Remilia yelled as she attempted to rework the thread back in her favor. Every time she tried to touch it, though, she jerked back unconsciously.

"You can't do it, can you? That would be thanks to another power of yours... one that I'm not sure you even have. You have very charming eyes, you see. Surprising how much you can do without any hypnotic talent, really. Much more surprising of course, is what -I- can do with that talent and your power. Now then. To the Garden of the Sun."

"Of course, -master-" Remilia spat out the words. _Death is far too good for her, now. Far, far too __good._

* * *

_**The Garden of the Sun**_

Satori looked upon the accursed field once again... The ever familiar fear was there... the fear her body and mind couldn't forget. Remilia herself was merely nervous... her vampiric sight allowed her to see without any difficulty, but if the Garden of the sun looked eerie during the day, on this most moonless of nights, it looked downright sinister. Remilia let go of Satori to let her float under her own power.

"Well, we're here, but you don't look like you really want to be here. So... what say we just move along?" Remilia suggested. _This place... feels wrong._

"No... I mean, you're right, I don't want to be here, but we need to talk to... her." Satori proclaimed and started descending, Remilia reluctantly following her fatebound master. As Satori neared the flowers, they once again assaulted her mind... come to think of it, in her dreams, Satori was fairly certain that hadn't happened. Perhaps there was hope, after all. The flowers certainly felt hope... the failure of the sun to rise bolstered their spirits... if the sun hid for long enough, perhaps they would be allowed to finally die.

Remilia's nervousness kept Satori from becoming too hopeful, though; this place was no safer now than before. Satori flew down, with Remilia following, her nervousness growing into fear... fear that now gnawed at Satori's mind, too, even as the flowers' hope kept her moving forward... They landed, surrounded by the looming sunflowers.

"Well, she doesn't seem to be here, so let's go, yeah? No point wasting any more time."

"You really are a foolish child..." Satori said, trying to get a more aggressive mood stuck in Remilia's mind... trying to make her anger overcome her fear. Satori's memories were starting to cause serious distress, and the lack of natural lighting made the place only more eerie... only a magical glowing ball of light she had cast made anything visible at all.

Unfortunately, Satori's words rang as hollow in Remilia's ears as they felt leaving her mouth, and Remilia and Satori both remained rather afraid. Anywhere here, Yuuka could be just lying in wait...

_They're dying, and I can't stop them... It must be -her- doing. It must be... no one else has the strength to destroy the sun..._

"I know you're not thinking of me, Yuuka, but I didn't destroy the sun, I just hid us from it." Satori called out with as much courage and strength as she could muster.

It wasn't very much.

"Satori, was it?" _Maybe she can help me blow off some steam._ "Ah, but it seems you've brought another as well. Well, the more the merrier. Let's just pick up where we left off, shall we?"

Remilia was looking around, trying to find Yuuka, unable to through the many sunflower stalks... Satori knew Yuuka was using them to hide herself, but before she could point this out, the two visitors to the garden felt something coil around their ankles. Rational thought fled from Satori's mind... She had been here far, far too many times. She was back in her nightmares... she had overestimated herself, and now... now she was going to pay the price of ultimate suffering.

Remilia panicked as well, but unlike Satori, she had the strength to break the vines. She tore herself free of the ground, and still terrified, but at least still in control of herself.

"Show yourself, coward!" _She must be around here..._

"I'm sure you meant to say 'Yuuka', rather than 'coward'. I don't know how you could have made that mistake..." The light Satori had been maintaining faded, but Remilia's vampiric senses had no difficulty making out the woman that appeared from behind some stalks as they impossibly slid along the ground.

"I... I... know... what... I meant..." Remilia's voice quivered as she spoke.

"Clearly not... I think your voice betrays one of the two cowards presence, and the other... well, she didn't even try to run, this time. She must be learning." Yuuka gestured, and Remilia felt her arms and legs being bound by vines... sensed that Satori was already similarly bound and gagged as well.

But Remilia was no weak, frail satori. Mighty as the vines were, they were no match for a vampire's strength, even somewhat weakened from the moonless night and the fate link to Satori though she was. As she broke free, her confidence began to bloom again.

"I meant what I said... or... -are- you too much a coward to fight me yourself? Relying on your plants?" Remilia laughed. Her laughter died down as Yuuka slowly and deliberately approached Remilia. The vampire took up a fighting stance, but Yuuka changed nothing about her approach... Remilia's nerve was tested as Yuuka strode ever closer.

"Well, I suppose it -would- be rather rude of me to ignore someone who's gone through so much effort to draw my ire." Yuuka's voice must have been cast in silver for how deeply it frightened Remilia. Remilia's nerve failed the test, and she closed the remaining distance between them in just a moment, launching a tremendous punch at Yuuka's gut.

It hit, but all it did was stop Remilia's considerable momentum. Yuuka smiled and grabbed Remilia's arm with an unforgiving grip. Remilia looked into Yuuka's eyes as doubt resurfaced. Yuuka shrugged before speaking.

"You must be awfully proud of that strength. I'm impressed... I even -felt- that blow. Unfortunately, you've tested my patience a little too much."

Remilia suddenly felt a deep terror awaken, only remembering her arm was still in Yuuka's grasp after she tried to jump back.

"Satori! What the hells were you thinking?"

"You know, I'd like to know that myself." Yuuka said as she used her other hand to grab Remilia's head. Yuuka turned it towards Satori, forcing Remilia to watch as thorns erupted from the vines binding Satorieven as they continued to constrict, as Yuuka began crushing Remilia's head with a single hand.

"Look, how about letting me go? It was her idea that that we go marching into the home of the one who's hunting us..."

"What? I haven't... been... hunt...ing..." Yuuka's voice stopped.

Remilia felt the pressure on her skull suddenly stop... fell free from Yuuka's weakened grasp. She looked again at Yuuka's face, and saw an expression that fit much more naturally on Udonge's face. A far cry from Yuuka's normally pleasant facade, she was now wide-eyed with fear.

"Oh no..." Yuuka stood stunned as she murmured. Remilia looked back to Satori; the vines had loosened, but their thorns had caught Satori's clothes and held her up... Remilia couldn't even tell if she was still conscious.

"What? You're the one that's been attacking her from her dreams, why would you be upset about her falling into your grasp? I only wish it had been so easy for me."

Yuuka pointedly ignored Remilia and swiftly walked towards Satori, grabbing the defeated youkai's head between her two hands and lifting it to meet her own gaze. Satori's eyes were unfocused, and her mouth hung loosely open... she was just about to lose consciousness...

* * *

_**The Human Village**_

Sanae could tell something was wrong even before she landed. The village seemed deserted... neither youkai nor human caught her eye... her pulse pounded as she landed and shouted out.

"Hello? Is anybody here? Anyone at all?" Her voice echoed eerily in the silence, and a deep sense of foreboding overcame her. She hustled towards Hiroyuki's house... A fervent prayer to whatever gods might be paying attention on her lips. She didn't even notice the ghost in her way until after the telltale chill covered her.

"How terribly rude. Where are you going, if I may ask?" The ghost's words made Sanae slow to a stop... perhaps this green-haired ghost of a... sorceress if her attire was any indication... might know.

"Excuse me, but do you know if Hiroyuki-"

"Your question would be better spent by speaking to the people undergoing treatment inside that building there, or those treating them. I'm not terribly familiar with the locals yet, I'm afraid." The ghost pointed, indicating the Hieda household, and Sanae gave only a brief word of thanks before rushing off to it. Mima simply shrugged and continued with her task.

* * *

"Hiroyuki? Are you here?" Her voice preceded the Moriya shrine maiden's arrival, and Byakuren turned to its owner. The desperate tone it carried worried Byakuren... whatever Sanae might need someone from the human village for, she'd find slim pickings here. Byakuren had been able to heal their bodies, but their minds were plagued with guilt, shame, and pain. Udonge's treatments were beginning to have some effect, and Byakuren was mostly simply lending magical strength to Udonge as she attempted hypnotic repairs to cover up the horrific events in which the victims had participated.

"You're welcome to look around, miss Kochiya, but I'm afraid most of those here are still distraught from recent events... I doubt you'll get much out of them. I don't suppose we could ask you to stay and perform some miracles to help them or something of the sort?" Byakuren asked calmly as Sanae frantically ran around.

"He's not here... where are the others? I heard they were taken by Alice... do you know where she went? Probably back to her house..." Sanae pondered aloud, pacing restlessly.

"Calm down, Sanae... Alice isn't... in complete control of herself. I don't know what Medicine intends to do with-" Udonge was cut off.

"What? What's Medicine got to do with anything? I thought it was Alice that stole them away." Sanae's interruption only cost her more of the seconds she thought so precious.

"Miss Kochiya, please, you're distressing the others." Byakuren's soothing voice did little to calm Sanae's youthful temper, though... and little to calm the patients, who were even now watching the extremely vigorous shrine maiden with fearful eyes.

"Alice's house... I think I've seen it before. How many houses can there be in the forest of magic, anyway?" Sanae was finished, and shoved her way past Byakuren, her mind already decided.

Byakuren hustled outside after her, but by the time she left the building, Sanae was already well in flight with divine winds at her back.

"Whatever's gotten into her?"

* * *

_**The Garden of the sun...?**_

Yuuka slapped Satori, who returned to her senses as Yuuka screamed at her.

"Get up, you! Don't you dare slip away!"

Satori looked up, still rather groggy, and her dizzy stare solidified into a renewed fear as she recognized that she had once again found herself in that most loathsome position... The mere scent of waking up to that smell, to waking up bound by vines... and looking into Yuuka's face... it was enough to freeze her completely.

"Hey! Pull yourself together! Tell me why you came here!" Yuuka grabbed Satori's stiff form and shook her violently. _To punish me with -her- presence?_ Yuuka's thoughts clearly directed at... Yuuka.

Satori was confused... this must be some trick... The vines were looser than normal... but if she tried to escape, she was sure the monster in front of her would just use it as an excuse for further torture. She had cheated this fate too many times, already... There was no Youmu to save her this time... no Remilia either, given her presence here. Maybe... she -should- try to escape. Surely Yuuka would torture her regardless... how much worse could it get?

Satori's body refused to move though, remembering the pain, and knowing intuitively that it could get much, -much- worse. She couldn't help but pick out a variety of tortures from her captor's heart, knowing the glee Yuuka would experience from performing them on Satori. Even worse, Satori knew there was no limit to what she would be made to endure... death would come only when Yuuka wished it... centuries, perhaps. Quite possibly never.

"Hey she's slipping again. Satori! Wake up! I'm not about to let you die!" Remilia shouted at Satori. _Not with my life on the line._ "Sakuya and Patchouli will be freed, and you will be there to see it through. So... come... on!"

How... how had Remilia been left alone? Was she an illusion? A masterful one, if so... her heart was just like the real Remilia's. Or perhaps Remilia had struck a bargain, failing to realize Yuuka couldn't be trusted... it would be just like the little fool. Her heart held no such indications, but it's just as likely Remilia hadn't realized what she'd accepted... She did have a tendency to not be fully aware of what she was doing.

Satori then realized the magnitude of her wounds as her head sank, giving her a good view of her blood covered body and her shredded clothes. Well, it had only been a matter of time before Yuuka had taken that small bit of dignity as well. There was nothing to do but wait for whatever torture Yuuka decided on.

"Satori, come on. Heal yourself already, we don't have time for this. Sakuya and Patchouli are waiting." Remilia was tapping her foot impatiently... and Satori cursed her for revealing the secret to her continued survival. Now, even if she -did- wake up, Yuuka would probably seal that spell...

"Remilia, just... shut up... before you make things even -worse- for us than you doubtless already have." Satori was picking up confusing thoughts from Yuuka, but that wasn't surprising... she'd never been able to get a good read on her tormentor... it was like trying to read dreams... unsurprising, considering the realm she lived in.

But... something was different this time. Everything was sharper, more real... even Yuuka's mind. She must have made it more real to prevent Satori from escaping back to the real world... but if it were real, then perhaps... perhaps there -was- a way out. Maybe she could find a gate that Yuuka had unwittingly formed... maybe... maybe she -could- get free. Then it clicked... Yuuka may well be able to make dreams real to some extent... how else would the injuries she'd inflicted on Satori carry over to her waking self? And if she could make reality like that... then there really, truly might be a way out.

Yet Satori's hope still faltered... with Remilia here in Yuuka's clutches, would Satori be able to get away? Then it became clear to her. Clearly their fates were no longer linked as heavily... and why would Yuuka keep that barrier up after capturing Remilia in any case...? Her tortures were more personal than that... and given that Remilia was currently free, and Satori wasn't, Remilia and Yuuka must have disentangled their fates.

Which meant... everything was in place... Perhaps Yuuka's attempt to give Satori false hope was about to backfire... after all, even Yuuka didn't realize the full arsenal of tricks Satori had up her sleeve. What was left of it, anyway.

"Dammit, Satori! Pull yourself together!" Remilia shouted... she had apparently come to an important realization... that perhaps... just maybe... death would count as 'freedom' for her servant and friend. _They... they can't die! I won't let them!_

Remilia's desperation fueled Satori's own...

"Do you know where Medicine Melancholy -is-? Where Alice and Patchouli are?" Satori asked Remilia and Yuuka. First, she had to make sure they existed in this 'illusion'... if Yuuka didn't add that to the 'illusion', travelling there would be suicide or worse.

Remilia nodded. "I last heard from Sakuya as she was going into the Forest of Magic to check Marisa's house."

Yuuka shrugged. "She's... probably there then?" _What does Medicine have to do with anything? _

Satori grinned. "Thank you." Then, using her third eye to draw upon Remilia's abilities to act too quickly to be interrupted, she used the Shinigami's power as she jumped forward from the vines, using their life to help fuel the magic, making the distance to Marisa's house that of a single leap.

* * *

_**The Dark Blowhole**_

"I never thought the underground would be quite so large. I'd heard, of course, but-" Eirin was as composed as ever, taking in as many of the novel sights of the underground as she could. To think there had been an entire community thriving down here... she felt again as she had when she stepped out of Eientei for the first time in centuries... there was a world out here that she'd blinded herself to. She resolved to learn more about it when she got the chance, but even the brief time she'd spent passing through had been enlightening.

"I know, right? This place is amazing! Amazing sake, parties all day, all sorts of food from all over... it puts heaven to shame!" Tenshi's opinion didn't quite match Eirin's. The same things the 'celestial' saw as benefits seemed like meaningless self-indulgence to the Lunarian. The underground was fascinating primarily because despite the extremely laid back attitude, there was general tension and aggression between people... just passing through the city, they'd seen several skirmishes and brawls. Even more intriguing was how such a society managed to survive for any length of time... it was the polar opposite of the Lunar Capital. Eirin was sure it would fall apart before long... but she couldn't help but wonder what it might turn into.

"I have difficulty believing you really are a celestial. I was under the impression they-" Eirin started, but Tenshi cut her off.

"Were boring and stuck up like you? Yeah, that's about right. I even tried setting up a matchmaking service one, but -nothing- came of it. They're all such prudes."

"I... see. I must say I was hoping for a rather different sort of conversation when I heard you came from heaven. If a deserted hell really fits you better, perhaps you should move down here?"

"Ohh, there's an idea! An oni can live in heaven, so why can't a celestial live in hell? It's perfect!" Tenshi's eyes were already lighting up.

"Well, it's not my place to tell you no... after all, everyone makes mistakes now and again... I suppose I shouldn't be surprised it applies to celestials as well." Eirin was looking forward as Tenshi ignored or missed entirely the minor insult. Eirin's eyes were keen indeed, but while there had been some lighting in the underground city and it had followed them a ways, it was quite dark here. It had finally gotten dark enough that Eirin decided she needed some light. She pulled out a lantern of sorts, and turned it on.

The walls seemed to crawl at the disturbance. Webs... loosely covering the entire wall... and her keen eyes had little difficulty noticing the shapes moving in the distance, cleverly camouflaged against the cave walls.

"Oh, hey, the locals get really upset with the light, I think." Tenshi pointed out.

"How good of you to remember!" A very -very- angry voice called out, alerting the pair to the blast of magic that followed it. "But since you insist on there being light anyway, the others have insisted that I at least make it entertaining." A colorful spray erupted between them, and once they got their bearings straight, they saw a familiar youkai in front of them.

"Oh! You want a fight! I'll give you a fight!" Tenshi was eager to accept... she hadn't been in a good fight since that rumble with Yuuka.

"Sure. Not like I was trying to -sleep- or anything! Three cards each. I win, the lights stay off."

"And my victory means you'll carry us where we want to go." Tenshi didn't particularly care what she got out of it apart from the fight itself.

* * *

Nazrin saw her chance. The bright lights distracted not only the participants, but any guards Yamame would have put over Ichirin as well. Nazrin gestured to Unzan to follow her, and the Nyuudo didn't even think twice about it... he was more strung out that Nazrin had ever seen him... the stress of being separated from Ichirin for so long had worn him out. Fortunately, that seemed about to end.

Nazrin had -tried- being reasonable, but they had refused to even let her see Ichirin... given what she knew of the earth spiders, Nazrin just hoped her friend was still alive. Her rodent scouts and her treasure sense had found Ichirin, and the fact that the former had actually reported finding Ichirin instead of simply eating her filled Nazrin with hope.

Nazrin and Unzan easily worked their way along the wall, eventually coming to a small alcove in the side. "She should be here somewhere..." Nazrin scanned the room, but Unzan didn't even need to do that, moving towards one of the dozen or so silk cocoons. He sliced it open with magic, and a -very- ill Ichirin fell out.

"What did they -do- to her?" Nazrin said as she followed him in, brushing aside stray silk strands and shaking her head as she did so. "Let's... let's get her topside, Unzan." Unzan carefully picked up Ichirin and followed Nazrin back towards the entrance of their little alcove.

Only for the pair to stumble into a web they could have sworn wasn't there before.

* * *

"Miasma: 'Unexplained Fever!'" Yamame's declaration rang out, and Tenshi quickly found herself having difficulty. She had noticed immediately that her reactions weren't quite as fast... her offense not quite as solid as usual... It seemed she had yet to fully recover from the spell Satori had used her for. What's more, she was feeling something she hadn't felt for a very, -very- long time.

Tenshi felt sick... and every second that passed, it just got worse. He body felt heavier and heavier, and she felt like she was burning up from the inside. Her vision spun, her eyes unfocused... And soon, far too soon for her liking, Tenshi was hit. She fell to the ground and heard a sharp crack as she landed badly on her arm.

The pain was similar to what Yuuka had delivered upon her, and as she tried to stand back up, the world spun, and she found herself on the ground again. Her stomach, which had earlier had only slight trouble keeping up with the drinking of an oni, now couldn't even stand this, and Tenshi's vomit dribbled from her mouth as she lay prone, her head looking to the side. She didn't dare move, for fear of setting the world spinning again, and soon, between the pain of a broken arm, nausea, and terrible fatigue, her thoughts swiftly became fevered dreams.

* * *

"The more the merrier, eh?" An earth spider descended from the ceiling to check on her catch. Nazrin tried to calm herself... being trapped would have been bad enough, but being caught? All her instincts screamed to flee somehow, but the web had her thoroughly caught. A nervous sweat covered her as she considered her options.

The earth Spider's grin was swiftly blown away when a pink fist larger than she was slammed her into the wall, easily knocking her out. Of course, Unzan was at a loss of what to do next... Ichirin was caught in the web, and while he could pass through it easily enough, she couldn't. He wasn't willing to go far, but as luck would have it, someone found him.

"I thought they were trying to hide something. Looks like I was right..."

"Get me.. out of here... please." Nazrin begged. She wasn't the sort to let pride get in the way of her continued survival, Eirin noted... though she also looked rather unwell.

"Very well, on the condition that you help guide us out of here. It's a little dark in the cave, and I think we'll be without a light source soon enough." Eirin said as she turned, just in time to watch Tenshi as she fell to the ground.

"Alright! It's a deal, just cut us free!"

Eirin took a sharp knife and cut easily through the webs, freeing Nazrin and Ichirin. Unzan looked visibly relieved. Nazrin tried to get to her feet, but staggered... and soon was wondering just where the ground had come from and why it refused to give her some personal space. Well, its embrace was nice and cold, at least.

"Ah, it seems they infected you, too. You'll likely need to carry her as well." Eirin indicated to Unzan, who carefully lifted both Nazrin and Ichirin. They went back to where the duel had concluded, though Eirin indicated that Unzan should stay out of sight as best he could.

"There you are. I won, so turn out the light and leave." Yamame was clearly annoyed, having looked for Eirin for at least a short while before finding her.

"Very well." Eirin moved next to Tenshi and turned off her lantern before packing it away. Working blind, she made a crude splint for Tenshi's broken arm... a simple enough task, though she reminded herself to check on her work when she could see again. She then easily hefted the unconscious celestial and started heading in the direction she had been. After a few minutes, she heard labored breathing from more than just the celestial.

"Good, you're there. I really can't see at all..." Eirin felt a gentle guiding nudge correct her path. "Thank you. Let me know when we reach the surface."

* * *

_**Kourindou**_

Sanae burst into the house without even a knock, the very visage of righteous wrath.

"Can I... help you?" Keine looked up at the very excited intruder. While still very drained, she at least had the energy to sit up.

Sanae looked around desperately. "This isn't where Alice took them?"

"No... she was heading deeper into the forest of magic..."

"Thanks, bye!" Sanae said, wasting no more time than needed. Keine struggled to her feet, intending to give chase, but Sanae was already gone when she reached the door. Instead, with a great effort, Keine closed the door before shambling to the nearest chair to slump down again.

* * *

_**The Netherworld**_

"Check it out, Reimu!" Marisa laughed and flew around the room, making overly dramatic gestures as she did so.

Reimu was a little confused at just what she was supposed to be impressed with, so she simply shrugged, not even bothering to stand.

"You don't get it, do you? See, in the shrine, I'm calmly sitting and drinking some tea! I'm finally getting the hang of moving my two bodies. I mean, just a little. Drinking tea is a lot easier than this, but I think I should be able to- Ah, shoot." Marisa suddenly stopped and fumbled desperately in the air with something.

"You lost the grip on your cup, didn't you?" Reimu recognized the flailing motions.

"What? No, no! I was... just.. swatting away a bug. You really didn't clean the shrine much, you know." Marisa easily lied, but Reimu called her bluff.

"If that's supposed to be you swatting a bug... then you must really not want to harm it. And Marisa, don't you dare swat harder and break one of my cups just to save face." Reimu hastily added after seeing Marisa poised to do something just like that.

"Alright, fine, fine. Anyway, how's your training going?" Marisa carefully lowered herself next to Reimu.

"Perfectly, of course. Haven't run into any troubles, yet."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that. What about when you tried to summon-" Yorihime had managed to sneak up behind Reimu.

"Ha ha I don't know what you're talking about, be quiet." Reimu quickly cut off her instructor. Yorihime merely grinned... Marisa had seen a marked improvement in the Lunarian's mood... not just Yorihime, but most of the others were settling into their new... well, 'life' wasn't exactly the correct word... situation, perhaps. In fact, Marisa was a little worried they were becoming too comfortable; Reimu shared this concern. What would happen when the queue ran empty and it was their turns to leave behind their identities? Marisa doubted they'd happily move on.

"So... why are you doing all this training, anyway?"

"I wasn't exactly busy with anything else. Besides, here I've at least got some nice food. And at least there's some company."

"Well, you've got me there. Almost no one at all visits the shrine nowadays. Well, unless you count the fairies. I guess everything else that's going on has been keeping most people away? Probably for the best, though. There's an awful lot to go through each day."

"What? No... It's pretty straightforward. Just... do what needs doing." Reimu shrugged. Marisa managed to keep a calm display, but she wanted to just swing at Reimu. Either Reimu considered the hours and hours of chores and rituals that Marisa was struggling everyday to master completely trivial... or Reimu simply hadn't bothered to do them. Whichever it was, Marisa had to fight to keep calm. Yorihime may have noticed this, or perhaps she was speaking of her own accord.

"At least you're willing and capable, Marisa. Not everyone could fill such an important role." Marisa could just -hear- Yorihime's unspoken '-I- could, obviously'.

"Yeah. Since you're here, Lyrica said your sister hasn't shown any improvement."

"I see. Well, either she'll find her way here or she'll recover. If there hasn't been any change so far, it may take a long time, either way." Yorihime tried to shrug it off, but Marisa knew she'd hit a bit of a nerve. Feeling Yorihime had been nearly properly punished for her previous arrogance, Marisa began to seque to a new topic, after one more barb aimed at the Lunarian.

"And still no sign of Eirin, either. Apparently Satori's around again... You know, I think I've finished with all my shrine maidenly duties... It's been a little too long since I've flown around... and I hate being out of the loop."

"-You- think it's bad? Hard to get more out of the loop than being dead." Reimu wasn't sympathetic at the best of times, and certainly was no more so now.

"Okay, you've got me there. I wonder how my shop is doing, though."

"Shop? You had a shop?" Yorihime just couldn't see it.

"You bet! Hey, I even had some customers!" Marisa declared.

"You know, that reminds me, what ever happened to your 'pet' tsuchigumo?" Reimu asked.

"I... I've actually been wondering the same thing." Marisa confessed. "I kind of... lost track of it a while ago."

"You are the -worst- pet owner I know of." Reimu smirked at Marisa.

"And you're the laziest servant I've ever had!" Reimu winced before leaning back and looking into Yuyuko's face. "Really, the spirits here are nearly outperforming you!" Yorihime had stepped to the side and bowed her head in deference to their host.

"We were just discussing Reimu's training... but we got a little off track, I suppose." Yorihime confessed. "In any case, she has finished for the day, so she may return to her duties."

"Good! Because I want those floors clean enough to eat off of!" Yuyuko teasingly shoved Reimu, who grumpily stood up as Yuyuko continued. "I mean, I'm not sure where else you'd be able to put all the food you'll need to cook..." Yuyuko quickly got lost in her thoughts as Reimu followed her off.

"So how's she really doing, Yorihime?" Marisa was curious whether Yorihime had been entirely honest or not.

"Extremely well. It seems she's never had proper instruction before, but once we established some basics, she started learning quickly. Really, she could probably summon any god without any difficulty now."

"Except -that- one?" Marisa wondered aloud... she had heard of how Yorihime had arrived in the Netherworld to begin with.

"There would only be one way to know, and I'm not going to risk bringing -her- here without anything less than a certainty. Can you imagine the suffering and destruction such a being could wreak here? She was even able to corrupt the moon, with all of us working against her." Yorihime reminded Marisa.

"And she's got all those minions of hers just on the other side of that barrier..." Marisa gestured in the general direction of the Netherworld's recent expansion, recently sealed off as the waiting room for the demons... and indeed, rumor had it that somehow, they were managing to destroy the purity of the area.

"Exactly. If she got on this side, she could open that seal... I don't even want to think about what might happen if the Netherworld were befouled as the moon was."

"Well, just make sure Reimu doesn't get too full of herself and try anyway, alright?"

"You don't need to tell me twice, but we'll both need to tell her a few dozen times each, I suspect." Yorihime shared a chuckle with Marisa, bringing a bit more life to the land of the dead.

* * *

_**The Human Village**_

Hiroyuki entered the village... though not much of a fighter, he was adept enough at avoiding youkai... though he'd nearly been caught three times, today. He was almost certain most of the youkai would leave him be after giving Byakuren's name if he -were- caught, but one didn't live in Gensokyo by being -almost- certain.

The village itself was eerily empty. In fact, he saw only two people in the normally bustling square, and they looked rather confused. Really, he would have preferred one of the youkai at the temple come instead, but the few that would have been comfortable with it were all missing or busy, it seemed. He'd had the wonderful luck of drawing the short straw among the humans present, so he'd been sent to help Byakuren; though the magician had been vague on what sort of help was needed, he'd heard the rumors of her involvement with Makai, and wondered again if perhaps being caught by a youkai on the way here might have been better.

He didn't recognize either of the two people standing in the square, though they looked rather confused... and were wearing very odd, simple clothes... A blonde in a purple dress, and a brunette in a dark skirt and white shirt, both sporting hats, of course. Hiroyuki tried slipping around... unfamiliar faces were usually either shapeshifting youkai or outsiders, and associating with either was just asking for trouble.

"Hey, there's someone! Renko, let's ask him!" The blonde asked her friend.

"You don't really think some random stranger's going to know, do you, Merry?" Renko asked of her friend

"Well, I got us to the right time, right?" Merry pointed to the empty sky, and Renko shrugged, coneding the point. She turned towards the skulking Hiroyuki. "Hey, you!" Hiroyuki sighed and resigned himself to dealing with these two. He turned to face them, and approached to a more comfortable speaking distance.

"Please, my name is Hiroyuki, not 'you'. And I'm on very important business, so please keep it short."

"Okay, okay, no problem. Tell him, then, Merry."

"Well... I was... wondering if you've... well, if you've seen... a woman?" Merry stammered the pointless question out.

"You're going to need to be a -little- more specific. You're probably looking for the Hakurei Shrine or its caretaker, over thataways, no?" Hiroyuki pointed towards the all-but-deserted shrine.

"No. I mean, maybe? She had really odd hair... purple at the crown of her head, but it changed to brown closer to the ends?" Maribel gestured, trying to outline hair or something of the sort.

Hiroyuki raised an eyebrow. "Why are you looking for her?"

"I... I was wondering... if she's still alive? I... I think I might have hurt her badly recently."

Now, Hiroyuki considered himself a good judge of character, and this girl -seemed- to be telling the truth, but Byakuren wasn't exactly easy to hurt, let alone kill. Either this girl was a powerful youkai, or she was just a particularly confused outsider.

"I truly doubt that... and hope it isn't true, for your sake. Byakuren has a bit of a following around here, myself included. But then, if you don't know where she is, you're likely just mad."

"Well, I'm not sure if I've done it yet, or if I'm going to, still. I mean, if it was a dream or not? Or... what year it is?"

Hiroyuki took a deep breath. Mad outsider it was, then. "I'll bring you to her... I was going to meet with her already, but I'm going to go ahead of you to make sure she's fine with meeting you, alright? If she isn't, you have to give it up, alright?" Hiroyuki started walking more openly towards the Hieda residence... Byakuren had made it clear that she would at least try to leave a message there.

"See, Merry, it's fine... he says she's alive, so she probably is." Renko tried comforting her friend, but Merry just couldn't shake the worry and guilt that assailed her mind. The pair quietly followed Hiroyuki, then waited outside the mansion he had entered, fearing the worst.


	21. Chapter 21

_**The Garden of the Sun**_

"Where... did... she... go." Yuuka stared down the smaller Remilia... she was -not- pleased with this development.

"Probably... probably to Marisa's house?"

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm not about to let the damned fool get away that easily." Yuuka took off immediately, heading towards the Forest of Magic, though as Remilia followed, she started leading, knowing the area a bit better.

"What do you mean? I don't think I'm following what's going on..."

"It's complicated, but suffice it to say that Satori must have stirred the beast that is my better half. I imagine the other Yuuka has been seeking me for a long time now... I'm doubtless a constant drain on her resources... now that she knows where I am, it's only a matter of time before she comes to collect... and I only have a few options. Hiding has worked well, if I could manage to escape again..."

Remilia blinked repeatedly. Yuuka was being unusually open. For some reason she couldn't explain, this terrified her even more... perhaps it was simply the news of another monster like Yuuka Kazami existing.

"Really, though, perhaps she'd be appeased if I handed her Gensokyo in a neat little bundle. You know, she might even let me go to some other realm and do it all again. Actually, I think she'd like that." Yuuka was mulling over the thought out loud, casually speaking of dooming Gensokyo.

"You... don't really mean that. I mean, your garden-"

"Hah! Oh, she'd be able to treat them to tortures I could only dream of... quite literally. I think I'd be alright leaving it in the only hands more capable than my own."

Remilia was -really- not comforted by hearing Yuuka admit she'd rather turn over Gensokyo than face the other self she spoke of.

"Oh, and don't tell this to anyone, of course. Because whether or not you believe any of what I'm telling you about my better half..." Yuuka turned to Remilia, showing that eerie smile that chilled the viewer to the core. "-I'm- still here to punish any transgressions."

* * *

_**Marisa's House**_

Satori was prepared for trouble, of course... she was jumping into what would obviously be a trap by Yuuka. She wasn't -quite- prepared for the pain and mental anguish of a crowd of people unable to move under their own will. Hundreds upon hundreds of hearts screamed for freedom... for the pain their bodies held them under to go away. Yet even stronger than the pain and despair was the fear... fear of being neglected... The fear that they would starve, unable to eat without being given instructions to do so.

Satori stumbled to the ground, overwhelmed... She had hoped to never again encounter a crowd so large, let alone one with such tumultuous emotions. Satori's third eye flitted about, confused, the pain the crowd of humans shared subduing all other sensation for so long...

She struggled to put up her defenses under the mental assault. She managed to suddenly succeed as a door closed somewhere nearby. It helped muffle the emotional torment enough for Satori to collect herself, though Satori couldn't guess how long it had been since she'd arrived. Only after a short while longer, when the initial shock of the pain passed, did Satori realize that the crowd was a fair distance away... a kilometer at least.

Perhaps Yuuka -did- know all about Satori... knew that Medicine should be here, lest the illusion fall apart. Satori managed to get to her hands and knees, and finally mustered the strength to look up, though again, her hope of escape faltered.

Marisa's house looked much the same as Marisa herself had remembered it. A terrible mess, with books, laundry, reagents, food, and furniture 'arranged' haphazardly. It was lit by some basic oil lanterns, it seemed, and their flickering lights struggled against the eternal darkness outside. But what Satori saw with her two mundane eyes disagreed somewhat with her third... she saw three bodies in the room, but sensed only two hearts. Further confounding matters, she saw Alice, but her heart was almost unrecognizable, nearly destroyed from doubt and self-loathing... the only hope she had left was that The Grimoire of Alice would remain unread.

"Hey, you're that lady on the posters." _Big bounty for her, wasn't there? She must really be something if Remilia thought her a bigger problem than myself. Well, it made things easier, so I can't complain._ Medicine's heart seemed vicious and loathsome. This was a youkai who had built an identity around pain, suffering, betrayal... and... something else... Satori didn't recognize it immediately, but it seemed foreign somehow... it didn't belong there. Medicine continued speaking as Satori still tried to get her bearings.

"You look like you've had a bit of a rough day. Would you like some tea?" Medicine offered her hand for support. No- not support... she intended to use her poisonous touch to infect Satori... make her drink the poisoned tea... to use the poison to completely control Satori, as Medicine controlled so many others.

Satori responded by lashing out with a burst of magic, then casting Byakuren's rejuvenation spell. Her body recovered, though her clothes remained torn. Satori once again took in her surroundings, now that she was restored and her mind now fortified against the distant torment. Medicine glared at her from across the room now... no- not Medicine... the body of poison that she had built... Satori glared at the small doll that had been the youkai's origin. And yet, the small girl seemed an extension of the doll, now... creating a sort of echo not unlike that of Youmu's heart.

Of course, Satori now noticed Patchouli. she was drinking tea, and frowning in Satori's direction... Satori could only guess that it was in response to Medicine's newly shameful state, or perhaps Satori's own. Something wasn't right... she should be able to read Patchouli's heart... Satori focused her third eye's gaze on the magician... but there was nothing... nothing at all. At first, Satori wondered if Yuuka simply hadn't completed the illusion... but then she realized another explanation.

"Remilia's not going to be very happy with what Yuuka's done to Patchouli."

"That's the purple one, right? Aww, she's just quiet. Hasn't said a thing these past few days, though, even when she's allowed to." Medicine sighed and picked herself calmly up before brushing herself off. She looked for an opening to take down Satori... and gawked at her when she saw that Satori was completely healthy. _One helluva ruse... she looked half dead before. I've got to be more careful... she really -is- dangerous... she's properly suspicious too... And a little crazy, on top of everything. Yuuka hasn't been near Patchouli for... have they ever even met?_

"Of course she wouldn't say anything. Trust me, there may be exceptions, but corpses are usually pretty quiet." Satori said. She scanned Alice's body... as expected, the Grimoire was right there... and Satori had no trouble seeing it... the wards Alice had diligently maintained had been worn away by Alice's mental deterioration as well as simple time. The book was in plain view... the lock merely decorative, now... Satori could sense from Medicine that the Grimoire was visible even to the poison youkai...

Indeed, Medicine Melancholy had been intending to take a closer look at it... she had been wondering just how she had missed it when it pulsed with such power... but once she had found it, she had realized she had no way to read it. She doubted she would need its power, but leaving such a thing around without investigating it was unlikely to end well. Satori's sudden appearance had only further reinforced the idea that a bit more preparation couldn't hurt, catching Medicine off guard as it had. Medicine would have to deal with this new intruder, first... and wait for her translator to arrive, though.

"Nah, she isn't dead. Isn't that right, Patchouli?" Medicine gestured to Patchouli, and what happened next surprised Satori. As easily as a human might draw a breath, Medicine made Patchouli's corpse draw one, manipulating tissue so thoroughly poisoned that it may well never decay... Then, 'Patchouli' started to speak, in her own voice.

"That's right. I'm simply continuing to learn under Medicine, here." Medicine's manipulation of Patchouli's vocal chords as the breath was carefully and deliberately forced back through them awed Satori. To use direct physical manipulation with such precision and so little thought... hardly more than Patchouli herself would exert... Medicine clearly had several centuries of experience with it... perhaps even more, considering that Medicine made Patchouli walk over to Medicine's own body to help brush her off. Not once did Patchouli's body stagger or falter, despite the uneven footing from the scattered loose clothing and magical reagents on the floor.

Yet, something wasn't right... despite such mastery and control. Alice was under the impression that Medicine was a -young- youkai, perhaps a few decades old, at most. Yet Medicine felt she had well over a thousand years of experience. It must be connected to that last bit of her identity somehow... a bit hidden by an impressive labyrinth. Medicine would likely never be aware of it... and Satori was, for the first time she could easily remember, having difficulty understanding part of someone's identity. That bit was certainly distinctive, but unfamiliar. Satori dismissed it... It was having a passive effect at most, so could be safely ignored... she hoped.

"While you're truly a magnificent puppeteer, you don't seem to realize you're controlling a corpse rather than a person... but then, I suppose there isn't really a difference to you, is there?"

"You know, you still haven't explained who you are, or why you're in my house." Medicine was stalling for time, trying to figure out how to remove Satori from her den.

"Of course, how rude of me. I'm Satori Komeiji, master of the Chireiden. I'm here on behalf of Remilia Scarlet, to free both her maid Sakuya Izayoi and her friend Patchouli Knowledge from your grasp." Satori bowed deeply, keeping her eyes fixed on Medicine. _Sakuya? Ah, she must mean Bella._

"Indeed. It seems I have rather less to do than Remilia originally envisioned. Patchouli is freed from your grasp, and Sakuya Izayoi doesn't exist as such any longer, I suspect. I've satisfied our contract without doing anything... that must be how our fates seperated." Remilia might be doomed to be Yuuka's eternal torture victim, but Satori could... no, Satori -would- escape this illusory reality Yuuka had built.

"Well, if you've no further business, perhaps you'd best go. I'm rather busy, you see."

"First, I see you've found Alice's Grimoire. I feel you should be warned that it is not a tool to be trifled with."

"The warning's appreciated, but I think I know what I'm doing." _Alice is a magician, so given the strength of this book and the nature of its owner, it's likely from Makai. Potent spells lie within... and they're mine for the taking._

"Of course, of course. I think you'll be disappointed with the sorts of spells you'll find within, though. They're really quite impractical." Satori advised. Detecting the expected surge of pride, she hastily clarified her statement. "No, they aren't necessarily beyond your skill to cast; they're merely beyond the strength of the world to endure."

"Oh? And are you so confident I care about the world?" Medicine asked. _She'd better not get in my way..._

"Well, so long as you dwell in it, yes. Don't mind me, though. Go ahead and have your translator get to it; you'll see for yourself soon enough. It's rather noisy outside, so I'll just wait here and recover myself so that I can leave your presence as soon as possible." Satori told nothing but the utter truth... though she omitted some things Medicine would probably rather know. The doll of Medicine Melancholy watched Satori carefully, doubting what Satori had said as the small girl of poison turned her attention towards the door.

Medicine reached out with her power and sensed that Bella had returned. Medicine moved the woman's arms as easily as she had just manipulated Patchouli, though here it was more of a symbol; permission to enter. Satori was well braced for the mental screams of the villagers this time, and the door closed behind the silver haired maid and another person who had just entered the room.

Medicine turned to the maid and her ward. "Ah, so someone thinks she can read it, then? That's good news." Medicine had earlier sent out a command to the villagers to each inscribe a specific series of symbols she had found from the Grimoire, then released her control over their faces, and instructed Bella to go out and find someone who seemed to recognize it. Amazingly, Bella had come through, and Medicine had been waiting impatiently for her translator... How... had Satori known that? Medicine paid a little closer attention to Satori, now, but continued speaking to the two who had just entered.

"I'm so glad you could help me with this little problem. You see, Alice says she won't let us go until you read the book, so it's very important..." Medicine lied through her teeth. _I still can't believe they thought Alice is at fault... and all it took was a __bit of planning__..._

"Thanks... it... it seems she's... lifted her control?" _I can speak? I really can..._ Relief flooded through the girl's mind as she looked over towards Alice, who's body gave a dismissive wave as it spoke "Think nothing of it... a bit of a reward for helping me."

Of course, the mind within Alice was thinking differently. _Stop it! You fool! Don't read the book... don't do it! You don't know the power it has! Oh gods... and she won't even let me tell her! Satori... I heard Satori... is Satori here? Why isn't she stopping Medicine. Satori, are you still here? Stop her! _

Satori winced, biting her tongue as hard as she could. She had her plan, and she needed to stick to it... it was the only way to escape the illusion... and if she showed her hand too early, she'd be Yuuka's plaything forever. Of course, Alice's thoughts were a bit off in other ways. It seemed she was... actually worried about Medicine... worried that her captor was making a terrible mistake, and might suffer for it. Knowing the pain Alice had been in... and still suffered... Satori wasn't sure why Alice was sympathizing with her captor, rather than simply worrying about the book being used.

"Here's the book... I... I really hope you can read it like Bella thinks you can." _And if not, then you'll pay the price for trying to deceive me._

"Bella? Huh, she looks a lot like someone else I know, then." _I thought she was Sakuya Izayoi for a second there... Well, I suppose her stance is a bit more awkward than normal... __She must be trying to imitate Sakuya._ "I should be fine reading it, though."

Satori, of course, knew more... Bella had -been- Sakuya. Her loyalty remained supreme, though she was now dedicated to Medicine rather than Remilia... Satori could tell that Sakuya's mind had snapped recently, and her mind had taken on the new personality to cope with failing Remilia. The human mind worked strangely, to be sure... rather than admit she'd failed her mistress, she convinced herself Medicine was her mistress, and always had been... but her heart wasn't in it... not yet.

"Well, get to reading then. Be sure to read aloud anything interesting."

"Alright. Well, let's just skim for now..." The orange haired girl with bells in her hair flipped open the first page of the Grimoire... a page that Satori knew Alice had taken months to decode, despite her status as a native of Makai. The Grimoire itself seemed to be in some sort of struggle... Satori could sense through the girl's eyes words that tried to squirm out of sight. It wasn't merely one of Alice's wards... it was the book itself trying to remain unread by a creature as demeaning as a mere human. After just a few moments, though, the Grimoire was utterly defeated, and revealed secrets not meant to be read against the book's wishes.

The first page was an index, and the translator's eyes grew wide as she recognized just what secrets the book contained. _Creating, linking, and annihilating worlds. Making life from nothing... Changing the nature of the universe... Creating and controlling Time... Everything anyone could ever need to create and manage a world however they wished... Who -wrote- this?_ She flipped the book over, looking for some indication of an author, but finding none._ It's... it's beyond anything I've ever seen! There's no way this can be real!  
_

"Well? What is it?" _Can she read it? Or is she just as startled as I was at the script?_ Medicine didn't know what to make of the shock her translator displayed.

"I can't say." _If anyone else knew what it was... to say this book __c__ould be the end of the world is putting it lightly. Suddenly... I don't think I want these eyes..._

"Well, keep flipping through. I understand translation can take some time, and I'm rather patient. All the time in the world, you know." Alice's body casually voiced, even as her mind was screaming at the girl to shut the book and stop.

"What's your name?" Medicine asked casually. "It seems we'll be sitting here a while."

"Oh... Ah, of course, right. I'm Kosuzu Motoori... sorry, but... well, you know, it's a bit stressful." _How can I get out of this? If I tell her I can't read the book, I'm dead or worse... but if I tell her I -can-... no, that's not even an option... Maybe I can stall long enough._

"Good to meet you. Well, I'll just wait here for a while as you keep working." Medicine sat her girl form down while watching Kosuzu, while her doll form kept watching Satori.

"Hey, what'cha doin', sis?" The whisper in Satori's ear made Koishi's presence known. "Boy, it was real hard to follow you here. When'd you learn to move so fast? Really impressive! Hey, think you can beat me now that you've got that speed?"

"I thought I told you not to follow me here..."

"Huh? Did you? I thought you didn't want me following you to that other place. Oh! Sorry about that, though. I guess I should leave, then?"

"No... now that you're here, trying to leave would only draw her attention more, I think. Best remain quiet for now. I think... I think we may be able to escape, yet." Yuuka's mistake had been making the mental prison physical... and while a mental prison may last forever, anything physical could be broken down with enough time and effort.

* * *

_**The Human Village, Hieda Household**_

A knock at the door drew the attention of three heads of purple hair, along with a few locks of brown, all dimly illuminated by a few lanterns.

"I suppose I should get it..." Akyuu was awake again. Her troubled expression was obvious, though she was still faring better than the people that had been sent against Byakuren. She dreaded committing this event to the Chronicles. To do so would be to curse every subsequent incarnation with the burden of witnessing that horrific scene... Byakuren's mutilated body... Every bit of that scene... the brutal sounds and sights... she could never forget them... unless she died without committing it to the chronicles...

"You're looking a bit pale again, Akyuu. I'll get it. Don't push yourself. You've been through a great deal." Byakuren said as she stood and moved towards the door.

"Thank you, Byakuren." Udonge said, with Akyuu nodding a silent agreement. As much as Akyuu had undeniably been through... Reisen had been there as well, and Byakuren... well, she'd had it worst of all. And yet they were up and about, as though nothing had happened... even going so far as to treat the injured.

Udonge looked nervously to Akyuu... her brooding hadn't gone unnoticed, but she would have to wait for treatment... if Udonge could even give it. She wasn't sure how well her hypnotism would even help, given Akyuu's memory. In any case, though Udonge could sense the torment Akyuu was experiencing without even looking, first she had to deal with everyone else's crushed egos.

Byakuren, for her part, was confident as she approached the door. She had been through tight spots before, and while she couldn't deny that she had been terrified while staring death in the face, Udonge had been a comforting presence, and knowing that someone would be willing to save Byakuren... As Udonge had helped Byakuren cast that spell, Byakuren thought for a moment that perhaps death needn't be quite so frightening. She still mourned the poor victims that surrounded her, as well as the ones they had buried, but she didn't let the despair that permeated the room overwhelm her. When all was said and done, it was still far and away better than the disaster Satori had prevented... and while Byakuren could and had thanked Udonge, she still had yet to deliver an apology and thanks to Koishi's sister. Hm. Koishi? Come to think of it, Byakuren wondered for a brief moment how the younger satori was doing... she hadn't been seen at the temple for some time, now.

Byakuren let that train of thought go free as she opened the door to reveal a wary young man... He looked familiar...

"Lady Byakuren Hijiri, I'm pleased to see you well. I came at your request, but along the way I met a pair of outsiders who believed they had killed you... they... uh, wish to speak with you, I guess?" He looked off to the side, doubtless at the outsiders in question.

Byakuren recognized him once he spoke. "Hiroyuki, right?" The young man nodded. Byakuren recalled his appearance at the temple some time ago... rather than seeking to join the Buddhist temple proper, he had simply wished to live among youkai for a time, to become accustomed to their presence. While initially wary of the young man, he hadn't caused any problems, and had even begun to warm up to youkai slightly in his time among them. When Ichirin had spoken with him as to his reason for joining the temple, she passed along to Byakuren that he was apparently interested in romantically pursuing someone surrounded... by... youkai...

Byakuren froze. She had assumed he had meant one of the other followers at the temple... but given the Moriya Shrine Maiden's recent desperate search for a 'Hiroyuki'...

"You... you're the one Sanae was looking for..." Byakuren muttered.

"Sanae was here?" Hiroyuki himself seemed shocked. "She... she should be busy on the mountain, shouldn't she? What was she doing looking for me at a time like this?"

"She heard about... wait, you said some outsiders said they thought they had killed me? Bring them here... I suspect I know what they're speaking of... it may be connected to the event that sent Sanae into a frenzy."

"Oh gods... She's like that again? And you just let her go?" Hiroyuki beckoned at someone from the side as he spoke to Byakuren.

"I take it that was unwise?"

"She's... very excitable... and not terrible prudent. When she gets excited... look, where did she go? I need to go talk some sense into her."

"I believe she was going to the Forest of Magic-" Byakuren had hardly finished before Hiroyuki was himself nearly gone. Her reactions were quick enough though, and she grabbed him by his shirt, halting his flight. "And I will go after her to ensure her safety, but she's going to try and deal with a threat that has itself controlled the entire human village. You'd only be exposing yourself to unnecessary risk... and if she's that wild just thinking you -might- be at risk, you wouldn't be doing anyone any favors getting yourself killed."

Hiroyuki slumped in her grasp, and she released him, sensing that her words had gotten through to him.

"You're right... I suppose it's time to see if those youkai extermination skills you've got are still enough... just... as soon as you can, please hurry." Hiroyuki's first words upset Byakuren. She didn't identify herself as a youkai hunter any longer, and had asked that people not keep spreading that little tidbit. She put her anger aside as she nodded... she had intended to go after Sanae once Byakuren's assailants had all been thoroughly treated, but it seemed she hadn't that sort of time.

"I suppose so. First though, I believe these are the outsiders you spoke of?" Byakuren was greeted by a pair of young women. Hiroyuki nodded, and moved aside quietly to let them speak. As they saw Byakuren, the blonde woman's face melted with relief.

"You -are- alive. Oh thank the gods... I thought I..."

"You were but one of many. Come in... it's only fitting you meet the other victims." Byakuren gave a welcoming gesture, and the trio of visitors entered, Hiroyuki last, closing the door behind him as a force of habit.

* * *

_**A short while later**_

"So... it was all real..."

"In a sense. I've heard this is a land of illusion or something of the sort... I'm still not entirely sure, but yes, it seems you were but one of many who had their bodies stolen to attack me. You've coped quite well... I mean, you've seen the others..." Byakuren reaffirmed. She had explained the details of the event that Maribel and Renko had described. Renko looked relieved, but Maribel was beginning to suffer the same sorts of guilt the other patients present were.

"Hey, Merry, don't worry so much. I mean, you've seen she's fine."

"Indeed I am. I felt pain, yes but it was pain I brought upon myself. Like you, I don't know how well I'd deal with being a murderer, now. It's been thousands of years since I've tried to kill a youkai or human." Byakuren stood as she turned to Hiroyuki. "But it looks like I might very soon, if things turn sour." Byakuren strode purposefully towards the door after seeing the pleading look in the young man's eyes. He was managing to keep a calm composure, but his impatience and concern were leaking through the polite stance.

"Thank you, Lady Byakuren. I'll do what I can here to help." Hiroyuki bowed.

"I'd appreciate it... I think what they need now is some human company." Byakuren left and closed the door behind her... they heard some chanting, then a shockwave seemed to rock the building.

"She can really move when she sets her mind to it, can't she?" Hiroyuki said to Udonge, who returned with a nod.

Akyuu looked to the two outsiders. "Renko... I remember that name... Merry, you've been here before, haven't you? Centuries ago?"

"I'm not sure... I mean... maybe? I thought they were dreams... and I still have normal dreams, and now I can't remember which were which."

"Ah. Well, I have a memo you wrote to yourself, if you'd like to see it. It's in the chronicles..."

"I... suppose? I wonder if it's coherent... I mean, I was kind of asleep or something at the time."

"Surprisingly so, but I'd like it if you could explain some of the terms you used..." Akyuu led them deeper into the mansion towards the chronicle's location. Udonge watched the two outsiders follower her with relief. It seemed Akyuu had needed something to take her mind off the downfall of the human village, and she was always eager to show off her lives' work. Hoping Akyuu would manage, Udonge turned back to Hiroyuki, who was watching her with wary eyes as he asked a question.

"I understand you've been treating these people?" Udonge nodded in response to the question.

"Then I owe you my thanks. I may not trust you or your kind, but thanks should be given where it is due." Hiroyuki bowed respectfully, but kept his eyes on Udonge, making clear his distrust.

"It's not really my place to apologize for what Medicine Melancholy has done, but I can at least apologize for my slow progress. I'm not much of a healer... I mean... my master... she's much more skilled. And Satori's a much better therapist, I think... she's really who-" Udonge stopped when she noticed Hiroyuki's curious look.

"I may not be a healer, myself, so..." Hiroyuki indicated one of the withdrawn humans... one with a severed arm. "treating these sorts of injuries is beyond me. I don't care if you're the best or not, your skill is worthy of respect."

"Thanks... I just they'd stop blaming themselves. What happened wasn't their fault." Udonge turned to another patient.

"I'm not surprised you don't understand... I'm not even sure I could explain it to you. I'm still young... I'm no sage. But... well... just because they didn't have a choice doesn't mean they weren't involved. A sword gets even bloodier than its wielder, right?"

"I... yeah. I suppose that makes sense." Udonge couldn't help but think of the first meaningful choice she had made... and thought of all the other lunar rabbits who hadn't even realized they had that choice... The lunar rabbits... now numbering only two...

"Well, I'm going to try talking some sense into these folks. I'm keeping my eye on you, so don't get any ideas."

"Actually, if you don't mind, I think I'm going to go sleep for a while... who knows when I might get another opportunity." Udonge was worried... she hadn't been able to reach Reisen for some time now.

"I don't know how you can rest at a time like this, but... well, I suppose if I could, I'd be tempted to, myself." Hiroyuki was tense, concern for not just the human villagers, but for Sanae as well weighed heavily on his mind. Udonge wished she could help resolve that, but perhaps it was for the best. She quietly left as the young man started trying to coax acquaintances out of their stupors.

* * *

_**Elsewhere in the Mansion**_

"A whole world of youkai! Can you believe it, Renko?" Maribel's gleeful excitement was hard to miss.

"Really now, it's just this little valley... and it's not nearly so glorious as you think." Akyuu reminded them.

Renko was considerably more restrained than Maribel, but she, too, seemed excited. "Yes, yes, it's dangerous... I think appearing in the middle of a ghost town got that point across pretty well. But it's still -new-."

"Thanks for offering to show us more, but we should probably get back, soon. I'm still not really sure what happens to us over there... over then? Huh. Anyway, I'm not sure what happens to us when we dream dive like this." Maribel looked to Renko, who seemed to nod.

"You know better than I do when to go. This is a nice place to visit, but I don't think I'd like to live here." Renko explained, before turning back to Akyuu and giving a goodbye wave.

"Well, I can't blame you. I wouldn't mind visiting the outside world once in a while, myself, but it's not really... well, allowed." Akyuu returned the wave.

They kind of waved awkwardly for nearly a minute, the awkward silence stretching out...

"Uh... Merry?" Renko looked concerned at her friend, who was looking more worried by the second.

"Ah.. heh... I... I can do this... I've done it dozens of times before... just... just gotta wake up from the dream." Maribel was clearly focusing on -something-... and -something- was happening; the air around her seemed to shimmer a little, like heat was distorting it. The shimmering became more and more violent, until it looked more like a waterfall surrounding her... And the look on her face changed from worry to panic. Suddenly the shimmering stopped.

"It... it isn't working, Renko! Something's wrong!" Maribel's panicked tone and expression immediately dissolved Renko's desire to make a quip.

"What... you mean we're stuck here?" Maribel's fear was beginning to infect Renko, now.

Akyuu had long since stopped waving. "You were trying to use some powerful magic... yet you said you don't know any?"

Maribel nodded, then shook her head, then nodded again... she was clearly confused.

"Calm down, Merry." Renko tried to comfort her friend before turning to Akyuu. "We don't, really. She's just always... been able to see things... and recently, she's been able to take me. And now, well... it seems we don't know how to get back."

"Well, your best bet is probably paying a visit to the Hakurei Shrine then, but it's a bit of a dangerous journey... especially with the darkness outside. I wouldn't advise trying to make the journey without a fair bit of company. And unfortunately, it seems there isn't anyone to spare at the moment... I'm sorry."

"No, no, it's fine. We'll make do for a while. I mean, if we really are in the past, then it's not like the future's going to just move on without us." Renko seemed confident...

"I wouldn't be so sure... well, if Gensokyo has a place for you, however temporary, it'll make sure to put you there. Keep your heads down, and you might manage to keep them long enough to get back home."

* * *

_**Outside the Dark Blowhole**_

Eirin had her hands full. One of her patients was deathly ill, and the other two were rapidly reaching that point. The pale light she had created didn't inspire much hope. A more thorough splint had been applied to Tenshi's broken arm, but that did little to ease the disease ravaging her body.

"I never thought the day would come when I had to treat a sick celestial." Eirin told Unzan. Of course, she didn't expect a reply... Unzan had been helpful, but quiet. Tenshi and Nazrin slipped between unconsciousness and delirium, and Ichirin had yet to awaken. She would need some more supplies to treat them all, but at least their conditions hadn't kept rapidly deteriorating. She cast a spell to open a line of communication to her apprentice, and Reisen Udonge Inaba's face appeared floating, looking like she rather concerned... and something was a bit off, besides.

"Udonge, are you there?" The rabbit's head shot up and looked directly at the image.

"Ma... master? You're awake!" The lunar rabbit youkai was elated.

"I am, yes. I assume Medicine is still at large, so Eientei is barred to us? I have some patients who need care."

Udonge didn't even bother trying to hide her joy at Eirin's recovery as she answered the question. "I don't know. I haven't been back since I went to go get help. Oh, master, I've been waiting so much... I've been trying to heal people, but Medicine's just... too much."

"Don't blame yourself... it's as you've said, she's a handful. Well, I don't have time to check on Eientei, now... these patients are in terrible condition. Where are you? do you have supplies there?"

Udonge nodded. "Yeah. I'm at the Hieda household right now. There's... well, a fair amoint. The Scarlet Devil Mansion has more, though. Reisen's over there, now."

"Ah, she must be the 'other rabbit' Youmu spoke of. I suspected as much."

"She's... well, doing rather well, it seems. I mean, I doubt anyone other than you could fix their affliction, and she's at least managing to keep them stable. But I haven't been able to reach her lately... my telepathy was really full of static last time, and now it's just plain not working... I'm worried something may have happened to her."

"When we get a chance, we can look into it. But don't say I'm the only one who can cure their affliction... I was under the impression that you removed the poison Medicine dosed me with. Is that -not- true?"

"Well... I mean, I did, but it didn't help." Udonge averted her eyes... Eirin may not be able to read her apprentice's mind, but Udonge had always been particularly easy to read.

"I'm moving around just fine now. Youmu's blade may have given me the final push, but you're the one who put me back together. Don't dismiss that. With a little time, I'm sure you could cure the others as well." Eirin said, trying to console Udonge.

"You're right, I suppose. I just... I wasn't able to do anything to help Toyohime, or the princess, or..."

"I think you did well, considering the limited training, resources and experience you had. What -does- concern me is that you encouraged a satori to cast an unknown spell from my mind after cobbling it back together without any context." Eirin had done what she could to encourage her student... but like any good master, pointing out a student's failings was no less important.

"Well... but it worked. We're safe from the demons now. Though... I would... well, like to see the sun again."

"That brings me to my current task; I'm trying to find Satori to convince her to end the spell immediately. The longer it goes, the greater threat the world is in. It was never meant to be cast, and certainly not maintained to the extent it has been. It -was- worthwhile, and if she was able to perform it, she'll likely be able to fix the problems it was able to cause."

"Then, what's the problem? Satori was just-"

"The problem is that you left her alone afterward... you didn't even stand nearby as she cast the spell. What if she's killed before she can release the Earth? What if she's taken hostage; the kidnapper would have the fate of the world in their hands. You helped give someone the Earth, then you let them wander free without so much as an escort." Eirin stared hard at Udonge as she spoke.

"I... I thought it was just an illusion... I thought it was the same spell you cast-"

"It wasn't. Tell me, do you recall me needing to fuel the spell with the essence of others, including a celestial and oni, leaving the former drained to the point that she broke an arm fighting a lowly Earth Spider? Do you recall the sky vanishing?" Eirin still kept a calm facade, but Udonge had been around her master long enough to know when Eirin was forcing herself to remain calm.

"No, but-... wait, what was that about a celestial?"

"Perhaps you'd know if you'd been there when she actually -cast- the spell that put the world on the brink of destruction." Eirin's calm, accusatory voice made Udonge recoil.

"I'm sorry." Udonge was on the verge of tears. "I didn't mean for-"

"Ignorance seems to remain your largest flaw... but ignorance can be overcome, and none are free from its influence. For now, we should try and find Satori as quickly as possible." Eirin said, taking a deep breath.

"Of- of course. But... she's not in Chireiden still, then?"

"She wasn't when I left, no. Suika and Youmu are still down there, keeping an eye on things and waiting to catch her if she returns. I plan on continuing to look around, but I've unfortunately acquired a trio of patients. Would you mind looking after them?" Eirin said, looking over her shoulder, where Nazrin and Tenshi were muttering incoherently.

"I... you could, and I could go look for Satori. You're better at this than I am..."

"Quite simply, I don't have the time. I can get them to you, but I think I can find Satori faster than you could."

Udonge nodded. "Of- of course. And finding her is more important. Sure, just bring them over."

"Actually, Unzan here will be delivering them." She shifted the spells focus to the Nyuudo in question.

"Oh... okay..." Udonge looked rather disappointed, but Eirin didn't have time to make a personal appearance just to ease the lunar rabbit's mind.

"Be warned; they were infected by the Earth Spiders, so they're likely to be extremely contagious. Take appropriate precautions. Unzan will coordinate with you when he gets closer. He's quiet, but he seems to be immune to whatever they were inflicted with, and has a vested interest in helping them stay alive, so make good use of his help."

Udonge nodded and meekly listened as the conditions of the patients were explained.

* * *

_**Chireiden**_

Youmu looked despondently towards Suika. The oni had done nothing other than drink, and seemed to be doing a very good job of getting herself drunk. Actually, Youmu was sure she'd never seen Suika so inebriated. The little oni was literally unable to stand or form any coherent sentences. She had only stopped drinking after she was unable to coordinate her movements enough to continue.

What struck Youmu as odd, though, was that it had hardly taken any time at all. Suika had gotten drunk after merely a few drinks from her gourd, the amount one would -expect- someone of her diminutive size to have difficulty consuming. Every time she'd regained enough motor control to take another drink, she did... Youmu was dying to know how Eirin and Tenshi were faring, but she didn't know any appropriate magic to try and reach them, and Suika was... well...

"Please, could you take easier on the drinking? We've been entrusted with caring for-"

"Brpfgh." Suika mumbled into the ground.

"Right. I think it's time to cut you off." Youmu reached for Suika's gourd, and the oni didn't even notice when Youmu took it and stowed it away. "There. That should help a bit. I doubt you could find your way to any alcohol in your condition."

Several minutes passed before one of Satori's many pets reported to Youmu, bearing a written note in Orin's handwriting. Another status report, very basic...

_Nothing noteworthy or exceptional happening over here. We're all a bit winded, but we should be able to keep meeting quota. We'll let you know if that changes. Any word from or about Satori?_

Youmu winced. She knew the entire message had probably been sent just to ask that last question. She pet the cat as she wrote up a quick reply.

_Thank you for the update. No word from Eirin or Satori yet. I will try and get Suika sober enough to contact them for an update. Please continue the good work._

Youmu felt a bit nervous as she gave the response to the cat. She wished she could tell Orin good news, but... well... Youmu turned to Suika again, nudging her over onto her back with a gentle shove of her foot.

"Whadddda..." Suika muttered. Looking impressed with herself for getting such a coherent word out, she decided to take another drink from her gourd. She fumbled around for it, confused.

Youmu stood impatiently. "You aren't going to find it that easily. I need you sober- well, -more- sober, anyway."

"Wherrre?" Suika slurred out the question. Her bewilderment was swiftly growing to some combination of fear and anger.

"You won't be getting it back until we manage to contact Eirin." Youmu stated flatly.

Suika tried to stagger to her feet with absolutely no success. Youmu still couldn't believe it. Suika simply lay there, utterly defeated without Youmu so much as raising a finger against her. Soon, gentle snoring confirmed that the oni wouldn't be contributing much anytime soon. Youmu set about making Suika comfortable, at least, and then proceeded to wait.

* * *

_**Marisa's House**_

Satori could feel the mental scream of confusion, rage, and a dozen other emotions dashing towards the house. She braced herself, well aware that once Sanae opened that door, it would be a struggle to even remain conscious, let alone do what she needed to. Kosuzu had made good progress through the manuscript, desperately searching for something she could give Alice that -wouldn't- put the world at risk. She'd heard about the demon invasion, so any of the spells that included opening a link or gate to Makai as part of the casting were right out (And a great many did, simply to channel enough energy from that realm to power the spell)... she had to read and understand the text before dismissing it, though... and Satori had been watching the whole time...

Medicine seemed to be able to perceive that which the people she controlled did... Not terribly well, but enough to tell that Sanae had been looking among them, growing more and more irritated and impatient, before running off towards the house. As such, Medicine was hardly surprised when the door slammed open.

Sanae looked around the room... and she was looking pretty roughed up. Satori could tell that flying blind at full speed through the forest had made Sanae well acquainted with a number of branches and trunks. "Alice Margatroid! I'm here... to..." _Is that Satori? What is she doing here? Oh, and Medicine... She must be being controlled as well. That must be what they were talking about... she's a doll, that seems right... __Alice is a puppeteer, yeah._ Sanae quickly resolved her confusion and picked up her statement, not even noticing the hidden silver-haired maid.

"I'm here to free the villagers, and find out what you've done with the others."

Medicine was more than a little confused at that last bit, but manipulated Alice's body into replying nonetheless.

"Well, I don't know what others you may be speaking of, but rest assured that the villagers have yet to learn their lesson, and they will stay here until they do. You're welcome to join them, of course. A duel, then?" Alice's body spoke, even as her mind continued shouting helplessly at Kosuzu to stop reading. Satori saw that Kosuzu was distracted, that Medicine was nearly to Sanae, now. It was perfect. Almost too perfect... perhaps Yuuka expected Satori to warn Sanae of the true threat... indeed, there was still time... Satori, of course, had expected this situation as soon as she'd realized Medicine was the true culprit. But this was it; her chance to escape... so Satori remained silent and doomed the shrine maiden.

"I won't let you have your way with them, and if a duel's what you want, well then you've got it!" Sanae was eager to put Alice in her place. Medicine Melancholy's poisonous young girl body hugged Sanae's legs as it pleaded, the small doll form grabbing futilely at Sanae's hand, trying to calm her down.

"Oh, please don't fight her. She's ever so dangerous! If you lose, you don't know what she'll do to me." Sanae shoved her away, but the damage had been done, though the shrine maiden remained ignorant. Satori knew Medicine's true intentions... Sanae's legs and hands were now coated in poison, and in but a short while, that poison would spread through Sanae's body, allowing Medicine to use the shrine maiden as a puppet, just like Sakuya, Alice, Patchouli... just like the entire human village...

"I'm just doing my job... Youkai extermination." Sanae's grinned widely as she pulled out her spellcards. As Medicine watched the fight prepare to unfold, Satori could tell that she had slipped the poison youkai's mind... indeed, only Alice and Bella even remembered she was in the room... this was the opening Satori had been waiting for.

Satori carefully and subtly bent space, bringing the Grimoire of Alice within her reach, without moving. Alice seemed ignorant, but Bella seemed to still have some ability to sense when space was being manipulated. She couldn't tell exactly what was going on though, and simply watched, more curious than anything else.

Kosuzu was simply shocked and confused, while Medicine remained oblivious, until Satori started chanting and swiftly weaving a spell. Kosuzu recognized it immediately, and tried to stop Satori... but the distance was long... so long. "No! Stop!"

Kosuzu's cries drew attention to the rest of the room, and Medicine Melancholy shrieked in rage as she saw the book in Satori's grasp, her anger echoed by each of her puppets. Suddenly, everyone in the room was diving for Satori save for Sanae, who stood confused, and Satori herself. Despite merely being on the other side of the room, though, their dashes came far short of reaching Satori before she finished the spell, using the Grimoire itself as a focus...

A gate to Makai opened before her. Stowing the Grimoire away, Satori calmly declared a statement to no one in particular and left the room in confusion...

"You've defeated yourself once again, Yuuka." The satori stepped through, and the frenzied sprint of the room's inhabitants reached the gate just as it snapped shut in front of them.

* * *

"Did she just..." Sanae's question was interrupted...

"AARRRRRRGGGHHH!" Medicine's fury was palpable... poisonous clouds puffed out from both the girl and the doll, swiftly covering the whole room.

Sanae conjured a powerful wind that blew the miasma to the corners of the room, though not before she'd gotten a whiff of it herself.

"Hey, quiet down!" Sanae told Medicine, though she kept a wary eye on Alice. Medicine turned around and stared at Sanae as the small girl spoke.

"Where. Did. She. Go?" Medicine's every word was punctuated by a single step towards Sanae. Come to think of it, Medicine was giving off a bit of a nasty vibe. As soon as Sanae had settled her grudge with Alice, she'd be sure to take down Medicine, too.

"That was a portal to Makai... I'd recognize that realm no matter what." Cold chills went down Sanae's spine as she turned back to Alice.

"And you... What part did you play in this? I'll have an answer, even if I have to beat it out of you."

Alice suddenly seemed to notice Sanae once again. "You're welcome to try, you foolish, stupid child. You can't even tell when an enemy is in front of you... to think you could defeat one that surrounds you... well, let's go outside, so you can learn the height of your folly."

Sanae was well aware of the Puppeteer's tricks, and moved in a wide circle, to keep any possible doll ambushes accounted for, and as soon as they were outside, Sanae flew up and declared her first spellcard...

* * *

Byakuren landed a fair distance from the crowd of people. She wasn't sure if they'd be able to alert Medicine to her presence, but better safe than sorry. She cast a tremendous amount of wards and enhancements... now knowing who she was truly facing, she warded herself thoroughly against poison in particular.

Finally prepared, as she swiftly approached Marisa's house, Byakuren had no trouble noticing the duel taking place above it. She noticed Sanae suddenly stop with a confused look on her face, before Alice fired a single, easily dodged shot at Sanae's face. Byakuren watched as Sanae's face displayed her fear and panic... but she still failed to move out of the way, getting hit and falling first onto the roof, then rolling off of it and hitting the ground, hard... Byakuren wasn't even sure if she was alive or not as her body lay still next to Medicine.

"Medicine Melancholy! You will release all these people from your control!" Byakuren spotted the doll, who had been underneath the duel and watching it with an angry look on her face. When she heard her name, she shifted that gaze towards Byakuren, and Sanae's fallen form got to its knees and sat with her legs under her, as Alice moved towards Medicine.

Byakuren moved next to Medicine in but a moment, but the poisonous youkai already had Sanae's head in her grasp.

"I don't think I will, no. I'm -really- not in a good mood, magician, so if you value any of their lives, you'll be leaving now." Medicine said, Sanae's terror clear in her expression, though she made not even the slightest move to struggle. Alice landed next to Medicine and waited.

"How about I challenge-"

"I'll accept no duel. Well... perhaps if you're willing to stake all of their lives and yours on it? I win, and all of you remain mine forever? You win and they go free?"

Byakuren didn't finish her declaration... she stopped and thought as she watched Medicine carefully. While she was quite confident she knew all of Medicine's tricks... was she so confident as to wager the lives of so many innocents? Direct assault was out of the question, as well, with Sanae's neck still being bent at a very awkward angle.

"What do you want from them?"

"Actually, They're simply learning a lesson. There may be something you can help me with, though. I want a gate to Makai. This girl says that's where Satori went, and I intend to follow her." Medicine declared flatly as she indicated Sanae. "You're a magician; you ought to know how to get there, yes?"

"I absolutely refuse." Byakuren knew the consequences of... wait, Satori went there? Why? She -knew- the sorts of things that lived there, possibly even better than Byakuren did, given how she'd been searching.

Medicine turned Sanae's head just a little more, causing the shrine maiden's eyes to light up in panic. "You know, I'm not -certain- how much it takes to break a human's neck... after all, Eirin lied about a great many other things. But I do think I'm getting quite close, and it would just be a shame if you were responsible for even more death, don't you think?"

Byakuren was frozen. Youkai extermination had been so much easier when she was younger. Back then, she'd have thought nothing at all of destroying Medicine, no matter how many hostages were shielding her. Now, a single person; important though she may be, was enough to protect Medicine. She cursed Medicine Melancholy for using Byakuren's remaining humanity as a weapon against her. Before she could give her reply, though, a scarlet blur sent Medicine tumbling away. Sanae, freed from the youkai's grasp, tumbled loosely along the ground before slamming into a tree trunk, where she lay motionless once again.

Byakuren darted forward to intercept Medicine, but Alice interposed herself between the two. Byakuren's heightened reflexes managed to dodge out of the way, and even noticed the magical trap wires Alice had set up, dodging around them as they sprang into existence, but Alice was doing a terrific job at barring Byakuren from Medicine.

Meanwhile, Remilia had Medicine thoroughly wrapped in scarlet magical chains.

"Where is Sakuya?" Remilia growled, and Medicine pointed over towards Sakuya, who at this very moment was rushing towards the pair.

"Good answer." Remilia said, before turning to Sakuya. "Are you finished here, already? Flandre's getting hunggrrrrrg."

Remilia's sentence was cut as suddenly as her torso, brutally slashed by the silver-haired maid. The interruption disrupted Remilia's hold on the chains, and Medicine broke free.

"Oh, did I forget to mention? She works for me, now. Go ahead and finish her, Bella."

"Bella? What a stupid name. Kill her, Sakuya!" Remilia commanded, tugging at the fate string... only to grab nothing at all. How... how had she broken it? As Remilia looked at her empty hands in stunned shock, her former servant took the opening and slashed furiously at Remilia, her silvered knives cutting deep into the vampire's flesh.

Remilia nearly lost it. She wasn't pleased by insubordination... and it seemed the maid had forgotten her place. Well, Remilia had captured Sakuya once, and she could do so again. The maid managed to keep Remilia on her toes, teleporting around... no, Remilia knew she was using the time manipulation again. What's more, Sakuya's attack patterns were different... it was like fighting an entirely different person. Even so, her attacks were as patterned as ever, and after just a few minutes and a few dozen horrendous cuts, Remilia triumphed, finally pinning her maid to the floor.

"I win." Remilia declared, but the maid simply grinned as her new master spoke.

"No, I think the victory is mine. Bella stays with me." Medicine said, holding a rather sharp knife to the throat of a certain purple haired beansprout of a woman.

Remilia looked up from the maid she had captured to Patchouli, then back to her maid, and simply kept holding down Sakuya. Remilia tried to understand what was going on... tried to decide who was worth more, Sakuya or Patchouli, and cursing that she had to make a choice. Only then did she notice Sanae had approached Medicine, though the shrine maiden's clothes and hair were covered in dirt and blood, and her breathing tremendously labored. Remilia could tell the girl was crying, but still Sanae put her head into Medicine's free arm, as the doll youkai twisted it carefully, putting her in a potentially deadly lock once again and lifting Sanae off the ground. The Shrine Maiden's body hung limp, even while Medicine floated behind Patchouli, using her as a shield with the knife to her throat.

"Let them go!"

"You had your chance to save them. Really, neither of you will just give up, will you?" Medicine was fed up. "All I ask is a few little favors, but -no-, you want to keep me from getting back what's rightfully mine."

"I can't open a gate to Makai! You don't know what lives there!"

"And I don't care! All I know is that Satori stole something of mine and fled there... and I want it back!" Medicine's anger was beginning to break her composure.

"That's the spirit, girl! My, how far you've come since last we met!" Yuuka said as she quietly applauded, drawing angry glares from Medicine, Remilia, and Byakuren alike. None were sure just how long she'd been standing there, quietly, but Byakuren and Remilia at least were wondering why she wasn't intervening.

"You are an -astounding- example of a youkai. Truly, I applaud your efforts. The entire human village, three of the biggest names in Gensokyo cowering and submitting before you... why, I can't think of a better role model for the modern youkai." Yuuka continued, and though Medicine wasn't particularly angry any longer, she was certainly still annoyed as she replied.

"What do you want?"

"Well, I was going to help Remilia here, but you know, I think you'd be a far more capable ally. I mean, what sort of youkai hesitates in order to spare a human, let alone another youkai?"

"She hesitates to kill her friends. Just because you can't form strong attachments doesn't mean she can't!" Byakuren yelled at Yuuka, her own patience wearing thin.

Remilia stared at Sakuya... attachment...? Yes, there -had- been an attachment, hadn't there? But it was gone now... the maid in her grasp wasn't the Sakuya Remilia had spent so much time with. Remilia didn't even need to check to know that Patchouli's fate had been similarly cut free... years... decades of not just work twisting fates, but honest to goodness friendship, all gone. 'Bella' grinned back, confident that Medicine's victory was complete, though Remilia still had her firmly by the shoulders, completely pinned. Remilia recognized the expression as one she herself had worn many, many times. Medicine wore it now, as well... she had the upper hand, and she knew it.

And now it was time for Remilia to change those smug grins into something else, as Satori had done to her so many times... as Yukari had done, as Yuuka had done... it was time to take back control of her life, and woe betide any who got in her way.

Remilia extended her claws, directly into the pinned maid's chest and back, before launching herself directly at Medicine, Remilia's claws tearing relentlessly through her former servant's body as she did. The silver haired woman's scream of pain might have served as a warning to Medicine if it had reached her before Remilia did. As it was, Medicine was completely off guard for the right-handed claw swipe that gouged both her an her shield, nearly severing her arm, and digging deeply into her torso, while Patchouli was simply shredded, sliced cleanly through. Byakuren watched Remilia slice through her friend of centuries without a second thought, and was shocked at the brutal display.

"Wha-" Medicine's cry was cut short by Remilia's other swipe, again with her right arm neatly severing her head. Medicine still had her other body, though, and Remilia had made the fatal flaw of touching Medicine Melancholy. Already, the poisonous blood that covered Remilia's right forearm was exerting control, reaching up to decapitate its owner.

But Remilia acted first, grabbing her right arm by the shoulder with her left hand and ripping it right out of its socket before launching it into the air, followed by a blast of immensely destructive magic. Medicine struggled to defend herself, interposing Alice and Kosuzu between herself and her vicious attacker, but Remilia turned into a swarm of bats, moving beyond their defenses before reforming, both arms present once again. She fired a blast of magic to slam them hard into the side of Marisa's house before continuing on.

Bursts of poison flew from Medicine's two bodies, her doll form clearly panicking, her other one incapable of moving from the damage it had sustained. Remilia approached, beating her wings furiously enough to cause a small windstorm, while her feet dug trenches walking against the pressure exerted by her wings. It was perfectly clear to the onlookers who was in charge, now. Remilia smiled calmly as she pointed her reformed right arm towards Medicine's twin bodies, and launched her chains of fate, spearing them into both the doll and girl, before entwining them in the scarlet bindings.

"You brought this on yourself. You and Yuuka have reminded me what it means to be a youkai. I was too attached to a mere servant; how could I have hoped to rise above being a servant, myself?" Remilia turned to Byakuren. "And I know you're thinking of trying to stop me, of asking me to spare this monster. But shouldn't you be tending to those others, instead? I think that maid's likely to bleed out soon, if you don't help her."

Byakuren looked to Sakuya's shredded torso as the woman bled horrifically. And then there was SanaeSanae... in the confusion, Byakuren wasn't sure whether her neck had been broken from Remilia's onslaught... Alice and the orange haired human lay limp against the building, the former in a very dangerous position; headfirst, halfway through the newly shattered window... if she awoke, she may well disembowel herself before she realized where she was. It was clear -Yuuka- wasn't going to help any of them... and Byakuren had to admit... Medicine may well have crossed the line... may well be beyond saving. She'd turned away applicants from her temple because they weren't willing to abandon their nature, after all... She decided to leave it in Remilia's hands, and concern herself with saving those she knew to be worth saving.

Remilia heard Byakuren rushing around to help the injured, and bared her fangs in a confident grin. Yet, she was still wary, careful of any tricks the poison youkai might have on her hands. Remilia's keen ears thus picked up the distant, hasty footfalls that approached from the forest.

"They won't get here in time. I don't plan on talking that long." Remilia pulled the chains tighter, and a puff of poison spread from Medicine, swiftly blown away again by the wing-made windstorm.

"Just remember. This is what happens when you cross Remilia Scarlet... The Scarlet Devil." She swung the chains into the air, and with her left hand, engulfed them with a blast of magic. So tight were the bonds, Medicine Melancholy had no hope of escaping, no hope of dodging, no air to scream with...

The blast engulfed the youkai of poison's two bodies entirely, and not even dust remained behind as the energy lit the otherwise empty sky in an ominous red.

"Oh, well done, Remilia. It looks like you had it in you after all." Yuuka applauded. "I suppose you -are- worthy of respect."

* * *

_**The Netherworld.**_

Medicine Melancholy opened her eyes, and found herself in an unfamiliar environment. Knowing what had just happened, it could be nothing apart from the Netherworld. Nothing but unfamiliar faces all around... none that even paid her the slightest bit of mind... indeed, they actively ignored her. Over the din of the crowd, she heard a few voices that were vaguely familiar... and caught a glimpse of one of the phantom musicians she'd seen long ago. Yes, she was dead... and none here knew of the threat she represented. Letting all those humans live to see the folly of their actions seemed to be being rewarded now.

Only those involved in that final fight would know that Medicine had been the culprit... and Medicine had every confidence that Byakuren would be able to restore them. Yes, it seemed Medicine would have very little impeding her, here.

Rabbits and Lunarians alike thought nothing of the little doll youkai as they thoughtlessly brushed her aside, contaminating their hands... and not a one of them even noticed the grin that spread on the girl's face, nor that the doll shared it...

* * *

_Author's notes: Late again. Argh. Real Life, being a thing. Anyway, I've had this planned for quite a while, now... Well, obviously not Kosuzu's part in it... actually, her appearance as a canon character couldn't have been better timed for this. Someone from the human village who's power is reading the unreadable? I probably more or less butchered her personality, but it was just too perfect to try to -avoid- using.  
_

_Beyond that, Thank you again for reading. and feedback is always appreciated. I was all nervous that I turned off reviews by accident or something last time, though._


	22. Chapter 22

_**Makai**_

Satori didn't even need to look around to realize that there could be no doubt; this was Makai. The magic in the air was so dense, every breath seemed to invigorate her... yet at the same time, there air was so thick with magic, there was precious little air to breathe. Between the extremely charged atmosphere and her already weak body's fatigue, Satori found the experience nearly overwhelming. While her magical reservoir was overflowing, her physical form was finding the atmosphere suffocating and oppressive.

Satori had learned some time ago that the two could be converted into each other, thankfully. Before doing anything else, she inverted the spell she had used to draw forth magic from her pets, Tenshi, and Suika... and drew magic into herself, transforming it into vigor. Feeling immediately rejuvenated, she set the spell up to sustain itself, allowing her to focus on other things.

For instance, the hearts of those that surrounded her. Though the area she seemed to be in appeared rather empty, still there were hundreds if not thousands of small, almost imperceptible egos. Rocks, plants, shards of metal, flying orbs of a strange material... everything seemed to have a heart. Most were very simple... far less complicated than Satori's pets... simpler than even insects. But they were there, simply... being. Some had aspirations or growing or being destroyed, or of meeting one thing or another, but most simply... were.

Yet it wasn't particularly confusing. In stark contrast to the blinding beams that flared out from the hearts of humans, these hearts were hardly even sparks, with the occasional candle flame, and a rare full fire. All it all, it seemed a simple, serene susurrus to Satori.

Satori had gained the upper hand. Finally free from Yuuka's dream world, now all that was left was to get back to Gensokyo. Though, she couldn't quite shake the idea that perhaps she'd be better off not returning. After all, who apart from her pets would even miss her? What good had she done? For that matter, what would happen to her body when she returned? From what Remilia had seen, her body remained behind last time Yuuka had stolen Satori away... perhaps it would be best to stay here.

Satori shook the thoughts from her mind. -Stay- here? No... that would be pointless. Going back home might be difficult, but staying here... she knew the minds of demons... she'd be surprised if she even lasted a week. She would almost certainly have to hypnotize herself once again, as she had while judging.

As much as she wished to go back... she had some business here to take care of... something she had to learn. She would need to meet Shinki... and the very thought of reading the heart of such a monster filled Satori with revulsion. Still, how much worse could she be than Yuuka?

Yuuka... Satori still couldn't believe she had managed to escape the nightmarish realm... it had felt so -real-. And she'd hardly had to use any of her tricks to do so. Now that Satori knew Yuuka's knowledge of Satori's abilities was limited, countless options had opened up. And even if everything else failed... well, she still had a trump card to play on Yuuka. Perhaps it was the strange atmosphere getting to her head, but... she was actually optimistic. Things might just work out, yet. Gensokyo would remain starless until she managed to get home, perhaps, but that seemed of little consequence in the face of her recent success.

Satori looked again and sensed that she was alone... or as alone as anyone could be in Makai, surrounded by self-aware debris. First things first, she set about using magic to mend her tattered clothing. A trivial task made easier by the copious amounts of energy at her disposal. Next... a thought crossed her mind. Perhaps... with all this energy to take in, she might actually be able to...

Satori thought back, guiding her mind to the time she had met Meiling. Only once... Satori had only done it once, but the event was burned into her memory, and her body remembered the extreme hunger... perhaps here, turning ambient magic into vitality... she could actually sate that hunger.

Satori focused, and began going through motions, reliving that time that she had demonstrated her supreme learning methods to Meiling. She felt as though she were in front of the Scarlet Devil Mansion again, and gathered her Qi up, first concentrating it around her third eye, prying the chakra open.

This time was different though... the limitless magic became vigor and filled her body up to its new potential, rather than leaving her drained... She moved on, and after each chakra opened, vitality filled it as readily as an sea filled a hole in the seafloor. The kata and meditation continued, until each of her seven Chakras was open, her Qi swelling far beyond the limits it had known before. In her mind's eye, she could once again see Meiling's shocked awe... but now felt no desire to feed on her.

No, rather than feeling drained, Satori had never felt so good. She felt more in tune with herself than she ever had before. Not just herself... everything. She could sense so much further than before... all three eyes had sharpened their focus, yet widened their gaze. She may not have quite the level of mastery that Meiling had, but it seemed simply opening and filling her chakras had been a tremendous boon. Her movements were sharper and quicker, and she knew she had vitality to spare... a rare feeling indeed for the normally frail Satori.

She took a deep breath. As powerful as she now felt... she also knew that to think herself unbeatable would only cause her downfall. She was in the realm of demons... perhaps they were less powerfully individually than Yuuka, but much like the magic that surrounded her, they were in no short supply.

Then, of course, there was Shinki. Satori had a few ideas how to deal with that one, but... well, she'd have to meet Shinki to know how feasible any of them were... and Satori had a sneaking suspicion, supported by snippets of thoughts from the more aware debris, that most of the demonic forces had relocated to the moon... Shinki among them.

Well, the next order of business would be finding a way back to the moon, then. If there were an easy way to Gensokyo, after all... well, then there probably wouldn't be much of a Gensokyo left to speak of. Satori knew she wouldn't be able to return before dealing with Shinki. Firmly decided, she stepped forward... but... then noticed something in the corner of her heightened awareness.

"Koishi?" Satori focused her gaze, and as always, only two of her eyes could see her sister... who this time seemed to be wearing a wide smile.

"That's my name. Er... unless it isn't anymore, but I can't think of a reason anyone would change it."

"How... long have you been there?"

"The whole time, obviously. I'm not about to let my sister steal all the fun for herself. And I'm so glad I came. I'd never have gotten to see that ridiculous dance if I hadn't, you know." Koishi laughed easily, and Satori turned flush.

"I... I was just warming up, that's all. You don't realize how dangerous it is here!"

"Oh, sure, -real- serious, I bet. Why else would you do that stupid dance?"

"It was a kata, Koishi, and... nevermind. But the demons... remember them? The things I've been trying to stop? This is their home." Satori said, her grave voice well reflecting the weight of the situation. Koishi, though, seemed to miss the mood entirely.

"I've always wondered what they look like! I've heard all sorts of things. And that Byakuren lady seemed fond of them. I can't wait to meet one."

"No... No, Koishi, you can. They..." Satori was already beginning to recall some of the memories from her brief time as a judge... "They're -bad-..."

"Well, if they -are- that bad, that's what you're for, right? I mean, you even saw me easily, and I can't remember the last time that happened. You've grown so much... and I just can't figure out your secret."

"Please... just... focus! It's not a secret... it's exactly as I told Remilia and the others. It's just a part of being a satori."

"Well then why can't I? I'm a satori too, right?" Koishi asked. Satori tapped her third eye in response, fleshing out the explanation with words.

"It's the third eye. I begin to think you were right... that our third eye is nothing but a curse. You may envy how much I've learned... how much I've grown. But in the end, I'm just a satori. I have no power of my own... only what I can steal. And yet that... that is far, far too much."

"Oh yeah, you said you thought you were dangerous. Well then, why not remove the danger like you were planning to?"

"Koishi... Ahh, how I wish you could just read this from my heart, because it's far too difficult to put into words. Perhaps I'm just not as strong as you, Koishi. I can't end who I am like you did."

"Hey, I didn't end. I mean, we're still talking here, right? I'm still me, right?" Koishi said, completely missing the saddened expression on her sister's face.

"You aren't. Without your third eye, you're... " Satori fumbled for the word. "Nothing? No.."

"Well, I'm me, now. Koishi Komeiji. I don't care who I was, and I don't care who I'll be... and I don't care what you call me, so long as you keep calling me your sister." Koishi's words might be heartfelt... if she had a heart to speak from.

"I... I'll do that, Koishi." Satori felt tears beginning to well up as she continued. "You should probably stay out of sight though... please, as a request from me. It's really very, very dangerous here."

"Alright. Just remember, I'm around. You're only as alone as you think you are, you know." Koishi smiled, and as Satori pondered those words, she lost track of her sister...

Satori considered the words she was mulling over, unsure of what had brought them to mind. Looking around, sensing only the quiet hearts of rocks, with hardly a soul higher than a stone, she could only draw one conclusion.

She was very, very alone.

* * *

_**Marisa's House**_

Byakuren sighed in relief, however momentary. Sakuya was alive, but Byakuren had been reminded once again that the spell she'd developed to heal humans failed to replace lost blood. Though the maid's wounds had closed, Sakuya had narrowly avoided bleeding out. Sanae was alive, though unconscious. Just like the rest of Byakuren's patients, she, too had received the healing spell. A good thing too, as her neck -had- been broken by that final impact. Much longer and she'd have been done for... without Medicine to keep Byakuren from healing Sanae, though, the shrine maiden looked like she'd pull through.

Patchouli, on the other hand... well. Byakuren didn't even need to spend more than a moment examining what remained of her body. Patchouli Knowledge was very, very dead. Perhaps one of Sanae's miracles could help her, but given how many pieces her head and torso were in, Byakuren had doubts even that would work.

Kosuzu and Alice hadn't been quite so bad off... even now, Alice seemed to be stirring. Byakuren had done all of this in the space of a few moments, as Medicine Melancholy had faced her end. It had been taxing, but Byakuren had saved them... she now turned her attention back towards the vampire and the legendarily malicious flower youkai, who seemed to be in a heated conversation.

"I didn't do it for your approval, you know." Remilia's claws had retracted, but the bite in her voice made it clear she was just itching for a reason to fight.

"Oh, I know. And yet, I can't help but notice that Satori isn't here. As amusing as this diversion was, she seems to have escaped us."

"Don't worry, I'm not finished with her. It's her fault that this whole thing even happened, after all." Remilia stated with outright confidence.

"That isn't true, and you know it, Remilia." Byakuren couldn't help but defend Satori... Byakuren owed too much to her.

"Oh, that's right, you're a magician, aren't you? How do we get to Makai? We need to pursue a villain, you see. She recklessly endangered-"

"Look, we don't know how she got to Makai... There's no gate here, so at the least, she closed it behind her, right?" Byakuren said, but Alice had roused herself to consciousness.

"Tell me... tell me you found my Grimoire. Please." Alice begged.

"Huh? Oh, that's right, you usually have a book with you, don't you? Is that the one you meant?" Byakuren vaguely recalled Alice tending to carry a book around. A different one each time. Presumably Alice had been nearing a threshold or breakthrough with her current one.

"Yes... I was hoping it was a dream... but if she's truly brought that book to Makai... well, that's that. Gensokyo's done for."

"Don't talk like that. We're still here, right? I'm sure we can stop whatever you're talking about." Byakuren urged, clearly not understanding the gravity in Alice's voice.

"We aren't looking for a pep talk, we're looking for a way to Makai." Remilia pointedly reminded them.

"There are a number of ways there, of course, but Satori..." Byakuren recalled what the satori had told her when they had first met. "She was trying to remove all the possible gates to Makai."

"I wonder why, now. To make sure we couldn't follow her when she did this? Clever..." Remilia postulated.

"No! She... you know she's a terrible liar. I'd have... -we'd- have known if she were lying." Alice said, quickly correcting herself as she looked to Byakuren, who nodded in agreement. Remilia wasn't buying it, though.

"Then she's a true master of deceit. You haven't even begun to see the depths of her plans... gaining a reputation for honesty only makes deceit easier, you know."

"You think too much of her, Remilia. -I- suspect she would simply rather fight demons than fight me again." Yuuka stated flatly, a smooth pride carrying her words.

"And -you- think too much of yourself! Need I remind you how you got drawn into this mess with Satori to begin with?" Remilia shouted, as Alice winced... thankfully, no one seemed to notice her guilty expression.

"Whatever her motivation, she's in Makai, so I'm going to Makai."

"But despite having two magicians right here, we don't know how to get there... Unless they're holding back some information from us?" Remilia turned to Alice, and Yuuka to Byakuren.

Byakuren had never before been placed under Yuuka's gaze... her resolve crumbled almost immediately. Her spells and wards remained intact, but though they had seemed like a fortress in the presence of Medicine Melancholy, they now felt less secure than a paper wall. Every instinct in her body told her to flee, to escape, but at the same time, her mind simply couldn't give the order.

Meanwhile, Alice was having a similar sensation facing Remilia. They'd known each other for a long time, but Alice had -never- seen Remilia like this. The normally childish, temperamental, elegant Remilia was a stark contrast to the monster that now stood before her. Alice felt a familiar sensation, facing a vampire ready and willing to tear her to shreds. And Alice remembered what that felt like... and she was in no rush to experience it again.

Alice broke first. "I'll tell you! There... there's a way she might have missed. I mean, it's not a great one, but..."

"Oh? Do elaborate." Remilia gave a confident smirk to Yuuka, who shrugged, and redirected that gaze to Alice.

"If... if you..." Alice had noticed she now had Yuuka's attention... and that petrified her. If Yuuka remembered meeting Alice in Makai...

Yuuka and Remilia's twin gazes bored into Alice's mind. She knew that the only way she might get out of this is to tell the truth. Lying would only result a fate worse than death... worse even than returning to her former 'life'... she had never been so sure of anything in her life. So Alice spoke, utterly defeated.

"Someone born of Makai has a bit of it in them, in a sense. If their body were destroyed, it would be possible to... well... ride that essence back..." Alice said. She knew her fate was sealed. Alice closed her eyes and dropped her head... Yuuka would remember Alice was from Makai, and...

"I don't suppose -you- would count?" Yuuka asked.

Alice let out a deep sigh, and was about to give a resigned affirmative... lying would only make things worse... but she was interrupted.

"N... no... I mean.. I wasn't-" Byakuren stammered out. Alice looked to her, and noticed Yuuka and Remilia had trained their gazes on the Buddhist Magician. Alice was lucky... their focus meant that her sigh of relief went unnoticed.

"You were sealed there for quite some time... Perhaps enough of Makai soaked into you..." Yuuka suggested.

"No! I'm just a human! I mean I was!" Byakuren was not dealing well with the pressure... though Alice would be impressed if anyone could... As it was, Alice felt sorry for Byakuren, but... well, Byakuren would merely die... Alice would quite likely find herself back under Shinki's 'care'... if someone had to be the sacrifice, Alice would volunteer Byakuren in a heartbeat.

"Yes, and now you say you're a youkai... you know, I do wonder just what happened in those years you were sealed. And word has it you've been walking around with a demon by your side... so how about you tell us just where you got it, hm? Or where it's hiding?" Yuuka pressed.

"I keep telling people-"

"Nah, nah, don't worry about it, Yuuka. I know something that'll work for sure. It'll tie up a loose end that's been annoying me for a while, as well." Remilia said with a fiendish grin she seemed to be borrowing from the much taller youkai beside her.

"Oh? Well then, no point in wasting more time here." Yuuka's gaze fell off of Byakuren, who realized she'd been holding her breath whenever she hadn't been speaking.

"Indeed. It's about time I 'removed' some freeloaders from my mansion." Remilia flicked out her claws, looked them over and grinned. "First, though, a light snack." Remilia dashed over to Kosuzu, and sank her fangs deep into the girl's neck.

Alice was still overwhelmed...Yuuka and Remilia's mere presence cowed her. She could only watch as Remilia take an unusually long drink from the orange haired girl. Meanwhile, Byakuren was doing her best to cast a communication spell without being noticed. She managed to cast it successfully...

"Udonge. A horrible monster... she's about to go to the Scarlet Devil mansion. I'll... try to stall her, but evacuate them!" Byakuren felt the magic being completed... Udonge had received the message...

Then Byakuren felt a very different sensation as a sudden firm grip on her shoulder squeezed. A sudden force that would easily have crushed a human's shoulder tested the strengths of Byakuren's enchantments. She managed to twist out of Yuuka's grasp as she stared the youkai. Yuuka grinned back as she spoke over her shoulder to a still feeding Remilia.

"Hey, I think I'm going to just take a few moments here. This woman piqued my interest." Yuuka turned back to Byakuren. "Sorry to interrupt your conversation, but while doing so, I noticed you have some endurance..."

Byakuren wasn't wasting a moment, casting a new ward; one to bolster her mind against the terror that Yuuka seemed to evoke. It was normally the sort of thing her scroll would have already done, but...

"A spellcard duel, then?" Byakuren asked. Yuuka looked rather put off.

"Please, you really think you need that safety net? Wouldn't you rather fight me at your full strength?" Yuuka approached.

"Well, I mean, it's just that-" Byakuren stammered out. Yuuka's presence wasn't as deeply frightening now... but it still demanded respect, and Byakuren was, after all, just trying to stall for time.

Yuuka reached Byakuren, and spoke quietly, with a grin on her face.

"A proper fight would last longer, wouldn't it?"

Had she heard? She... knew Byakuren was stalling them? Then why?

"More fun, too, I'd say." Yuuka spoke quietly, answering the obvious question before backing away and speaking more loudly... "I suppose if you're set on a safe, boring fight-"

"No! I'll... I'll show you my full power." Byakuren stated with conviction.

"That's what I wanted to hear." Yuuka braced herself, and Byakuren, fully prepared for a fight, steeled her will, as Remilia decided to grab a full vessel and moved on to sip from Sanae while she waited, quietly ready to watch the fight with an amused expression on her face. The shrine maiden awoke with a start at the bite, but a sharp, charming gaze and a few soothing words later, her struggles ceased as the fight began in earnest.

* * *

_**In the Forest of Magic, near Marisa's house**_

Miko's head pounded. She reached up to cover her ears, only to find that they were already covered. Even so, the deafening desires of hundreds of people lanced through her senses. It wouldn't even be so bad if they weren't all so similar... but their desires echoed off each other, resonating and amplifying their pain.

She couldn't stand... couldn't even move... couldn't even think. All her own body desired at that moment was silence. For everything to be quiet again... to slip back into unconsciousness. Distantly, she felt someone shaking her shoulder, but couldn't even sob out a word in reply. Tears streamed from her eyes as she felt hundreds of unheard voices calling out to her.

Then, she fell into a hole in the ground, and kept falling... falling... the desires grew further and further away, until all that remained were their echoes in her still throbbing head.

"Crown Prince, please! Say something, anything, -please-!" A weepy Futo was holding Miko's hand... Futo's concern flooded over Miko, and warmed and bolstered her heart.

"What... happened?" Miko asked, still in a daze. Futo embraced Miko heavily enough then to prevent any further conversation from either of them, while Tojiko took it upon herself to explain.

"You took off your headphones and stepped into Gensokyo, to try and find Byakuren again. Apparently, she had some sort of ward or siren or something ready... you collapsed immediately. Futo put your earmuffs back on, and I started digging a hole for us to return to Senkai, while Futo tried to rouse you. As soon as you were conscious again, we brought you back here." Tojiko's tone was more bitter than Miko was used to, but... well, they still hadn't resolved the earlier issues Satori had brought up... and Futo's desperate embrace likely wasn't helping. Miko gently pushed Futo away.

"Thank you... both of you." Miko said, bowing her head to each of them in turn. "I... I don't think it was Byakuren, though. They wanted freedom... to be able to move again..."

"They?"

"People... So many... it sounded like the entire human village, but united in their bonds... We need to help them."

Tojiko shrugged. "They haven't done me any harm, so I don't object."

Futo nodded eagerly, of course. "We shall do everything in our power to ensure that they are afforded the freedom they desire!" Conviction burned in her voice.

Miko let out a relieved sigh. "Thank you. I'd join you, but... well, you saw how I was... I don't think I'd be much help." Miko didn't point out that her head was still aching worse than it ever had, and she doubted she'd be able to stand, let alone help the people of the village, however she might do that. Instead she watched as her two companions left through a crack in the Dojo's wall, leaving Miko to nurse her headache in merciful silence.

* * *

_**The Hieda Household**_

Udonge was nearly frozen with fear. Not for herself, but for the patients she'd left at the mansion. Byakuren's message had been clear, and yet Udonge could do nothing to help them. She had been unable to contact Reisen recently, but maybe whatever interference there was earlier was gone, now.

"Reisen? Can you hear me?" Udonge strained to listen for a reply... but heard none. "Reisen! Some monstrous youkai is coming! You have to get everyone out of there now! Evacuate!" Udonge screamed at the top of her lungs... she listened again... and this time... she thought she heard a faint reply... too faint to make out what it said... and there was still some interference coming with it...

Perhaps... her message -had- gone through... but there was too much at stake to leave it uncertain... The Princess might be immortal, but she could still feel pain, and her immortality would do little to protect Tewi, or Toyohime.

"What on earth are you yelling about?" Akyuu glowered at Udonge.

"Byakuren just sent a message... I've got to get over to the Scarlet Devil Mansion! Some monster is going there, and Tewi, Toyohime, and the Princess are all still-" Udonge was interrupted by a knock on the door. Flustered, she swiftly went to it and swung it open, to reveal a meek looking pink cloud...

"Oh, no... I'd forgotten about them..." Udonge looked where the cloud was pointed, and merely gawked for a few seconds at the pile of bodies a good distance away... once glance was all it took for her to realize they needed -immediate- care.

"About who? Oh, that's Unzan, right?" Akyuu recognized the fellow, though the others were too far for her to clearly make out.

"I need to treat them, but..." Udonge looked directly at Akyuu's eyes... "Akyuu, please, can you go to the Scarlet Devil Mansion and help evacuate the afflicted?"

Fear bit deeply, but Akyuu nodded... she just couldn't refuse Udonge's request... the Lunar Rabbit had done so much.. not only for her, but for the others as well.

"I'll do it... but I should probably bring the others. I'm going to need... well, some backup."

Udonge nodded. "Get them and go. Please, quickly!" She was already out the door and nearly to the pile of disease, having cast a ward to protect herself from contamination on her way out. She may not know much magic, but what little she knew was extremely useful for her profession as a healer.

Akyuu went to get the only other still capable humans in the mansion...

* * *

_**The Scarlet Devil Mansion Guest Wing**_

_Youkai... everyone... evacuate..._

It wasn't much, but the panic in Udonge's telepathic words burst through the static, and told more than the only three words Reisen had picked up.

She looked at her three patients. Getting just one of them out would be difficult enough. Perhaps the gate guard could offer some assistance. It would be far better than deciding who would be left behind. Reisen rushed out to the gate as fast as she could, telling some nearby fairies to start putting together some stretchers or similar devices, and hoping they knew what she was talking about. If not, well, she'd have to do it when she got back.

Reisen knew every second counted.

* * *

_**Marisa's House**_

Byakuren led the attack... and immediately Yuuka was thrown off balance. The first blow came far too fast, and much to Yuuka's surprise, was a solid kick to Yuuka's back. Byakuren didn't linger there, though, and leapt on Yuuka's body to deliver a skullcracking blow. This time, though, Yuuka managed to turn the direct hit into a glancing blow. Byakuren's fist caused the earth around the pair to erupt, and gave Yuuka the concealment she needed to regain her balance.

Or so she thought. Instead, while backing out of the cloud, Byakuren's fist unerringly collided with Yuuka's face, causing her to reel backwards, staggering into a magical web Byakuren had thrown up behind her. Yuuka's head throbbed, but she managed to emit a burst of energy to blast away the web, and give Byakuren just a split second's pause.

Yuuka pressed her advantage, lunging at Byakuren. The opening closed far too quickly... it must have been a trap... or was Byakuren truly that fast? Yuuka's fist hit only air, while Byakuren's graceful step positioned her perfectly to bring her elbow down on Yuuka's outstretched arm. Before Yuuka could even twist her arm to soften the blow, it was broken.

Yuuka screamed in rage and pain as she stepped away and a burst of magic erupted from her.. unfocused, but impossible to dodge. Byakuren's assault continued unhindered, though, as she reversed the blast, slamming Yuuka's magic back into her. Yuuka crumpled, and as she started to rise, found that Byakuren's foot was only too ready to help her, punting her far into the air.

Yuuka shouted as she flew, filling with rage... "How?"

"The Goddess of Makai is an unforgiving sparring partner. I had to keep up with her... you're nothing." Byakuren didn't even slow her focused attack as she spoke, having followed Yuuka into the air, and blasting her with magic just enough to keep her off balance, allowing Byakuren's strikes to land true, one after another.

"I'll pay you back double for this indignity!" Yuuka screamed.

Byakuren was on a level far above that of even the celestial... Yuuka had no doubt Byakuren would have defeated Remilia in a heartbeat... Yuuka, who rarely felt pain, found herself helpless to defend herself as her ribs cracked, as a leg was broken, as her wind was kicked out of her.

And yet, as Yuuka's jaw was smashed, she got a good look at Byakuren... and the expression she wore concealed her fear well. Well, but not perfectly. Yuuka was quite experienced at detecting fear, and she knew that Byakuren was nearly panicking under that calm mask. Yuuka received a roundhouse kick that sent her through a tree into the ground. Splinters dug under her skin, and Byakuren followed, slamming her entire body, glowing with magic, into Yuuka's prone form, cracking her skull and sending her focus reeling.

"Give up! You can't win!" Byakuren cried out as she lifted Yuuka's head out of the dirt and wood it was planted in.

Yuuka shook her head. Byakuren slammed Yuuka's face into the ground once, twice, three times, then asked.

"Why won't you give up?" Byakuren screamed. "How much sense do I have to beat into you?"

Remilia grinned. "She won't give up, you damned fool. -She- knows what it means to be a youkai. Something it seems I had forgotten, and you have yet to learn. She won't give up until she can't fight. With a spellcard duel, that comes to pass far sooner... in this sort of fight, though..." Remilia laughed, then planted her fangs back into Sanae's neck and sipped calmly, eager to see how this fight would end.

* * *

_**Suzunaan**_

Udonge rushed from patient to patient. It had been even worse than she'd thought... it was eerily similar to Medicine's poison mixture, actually. Each of the three were suffering from several infectious diseases, and all were in delirium until Udonge simply put them to sleep. Now, she hastily and carefully removed infected skin, applied antibiotics... Nazrin, Tenshi, and Ichirin all required rather different medications. Really, Udonge had no experience treating celestials... for one to even fall ill, let alone suffer a broken bone... it was unheard of. Still, she seemed to be reacting to treatments much like a human, and Udonge had a tremendous amount of experience with those. She wished she knew Byakuren's healing spell, but she would have to make do without until Byakuren returned. And Udonge had every confidence that Byakuren -would- succeed.

Until then, every breath was a struggle for patients and physician alike, as the Lunar rabbit treated Unzan's companions, as the cloud himself did what he could to gather whatever Udonge demanded of him... and she demanded a great many things.

* * *

_**Near the Scarlet Devil Mansion**_

"I guess I've never tried moving this quickly. We made good time. Just takes some motivation, hm?" Hiroyuki was honestly surprised. It had always taken him at least a day or two to get to the mansion on foot, yet they had made the trip in mere minutes. He had never been so free to move... normally, if he were spotted with a youkai, that would have been it. But with Akyuu -and- two outsiders, he had no such worries. Still, he found it a bit odd that the difference in time was so profound... It seemed Akyuu agreed.

"We made better time than we should have, but we'll look into that later. For now, let's get inside. If the gate guard gives us any trouble, we're counting on you two to get us in." Akyuu told Renko and Maribel.

"Just... talk to her then? I suppose we can try to be a distraction?" Renko asked, to be certain, looking up at Akyuu from the flying girl's arms.

Hiroyuki gave a halfhearted glance to his own cargo, and saw that Maribel was shimmering oddly again... not so much as before, and she didn't seem to be aware of it, simply trying to take in the fact that she was flying.

Akyuu didn't reply to Renko's question... Hiroyuki knew that Akyuu and Renko had very different ideas of the sorts of distraction that would be necessary. The gate guard took her job -very- seriously, and she was well able to keep any of the four from getting past her in a fight... and few were the humans that could sneak past or or outrun her.

But if they offered tribute to her master...

* * *

_**Marisa's House**_

Byakuren had grabbed Yuuka by her shoulders, having already dislocated them both as she shook the youkai and demanded surrender. Why wouldn't she give up? Byakuren had overwhelmed her utterly! Remilia would have cracked under that, she was sure, so why wasn't Yuuka surrendering?

The despair in Byakuren's heart grew tenfold as she caught Yuuka's gaze... and realized Yuuka knew. Yuuka knew Byakuren had been overexerting herself... knew that enhancements of that magnitude were costly. Byakuren had burned her considerable magical reservoir in just a few minutes... And Yuuka knew. Byakuren's desperate shaking had told Yuuka everything.

Yuuka didn't smile... her face was too broken to allow that. But her headbutt, directed against Byakuren's now unprotected skull, the magician's wards having run out of energy to sustain them, sent the magician reeling, cracking her skull in the process... Yuuka's earlier words echoed in Byakuren's mind.

_I'll pay you back double._

Byakuren cursed herself for not listening to Remilia... She should have finished Yuuka when she had the chance. And yet, she couldn't fault herself. She was a killer no more... and sealing Yuuka would have been leaving her to a fate far worse. No... Byakuren stood by her decision, even as Yuuka popped her shoulders back into their sockets with the help of a nearby tree. Oh, Yuuka's body was shattered... one leg and one arm broken in several places, the splinters in her skin and the gashes from Byakuren's magically enhanced strikes all made that clear enough. Her spirit, though, was no less overwhelming than before, and Byakuren braced herself as Yuuka hovered towards her slowly and deliberately.

* * *

_**The Gates of the Scarlet Devil Mansion**_

Meiling noted the four approaching auras easily enough. Akyuu, another villager, and... either humans or outsiders... she wasn't quite sure. She'd never seen an outsider with Qi as stable as theirs, yet she'd never met a villager with Qi so wild... They seemed to be touched by magic, but not nearly so much as a villager...

She opened her eyes as Akyuu approached her. "What brings you to the mansion today, miss Hieda? I'm afraid I've been left no orders to let anyone through."

"We'd heard the Mansion was about to fall under attack, and came to help evacuate the wounded that are being treated here." Akyuu explained calmly, but quickly.

"I assure you, the evacuation is well in hand... the Lunar Rabbit and some fairies are working on it now. They should be out of here soon." Meiling's reassurances fell awfully flat...

"Fairies?" Hiroyuki couldn't believe it. "Fairies don't even know how to wake up in the morning... what help could they possibly be?"

"I've helped train them a bit. They're surprisingly capable. It just takes a firm hand to guide these properly once they've been adjusted."

"Well, if Udonge is any sort of example of rabbit youkai, I don't think a firm hand is there, now is it? Udonge's been getting better lately, but... well..." Akyuu let the words hang.

Meiling thought back to her earlier encounter with Reisen, where it had taken minutes for the panicked rabbit to even explain that an attack was impending... and she hadn't even gotten any other details at all from her. Meiling had sent some fairies to help, but Akyuu had made a very good point.

"You should... ah... probably go inside. I'll have a fairy guide you to the guest wing. Do -not- stray from the path shown to you. Sakuya isn't around to guide you, and the halls are confusing without a guide. I told Reisen I'll try and stop..." Meiling briefly worried that the attacker was standing right in front of her... Akyuu and the villager were clearly themselves, but... it might explain what was with the other two.

"I told her I'll stop whatever comes after them. Akyuu, who are these two? I don't think we can trust them."

"They're outsiders. I think Yukari's off on her aim again, but they claim to have come here under their own power."

"Well, it is the right time of year, and we didn't get any at all recently, it seems. Still, they seem odd for outsiders. I can't let them pass unless you swear to my mistress you will keep them from interfering with anything."

"If you insist. I, Akyuu Hieda, swear in the name of Remilia Scarlet, the Scarlet Devil, that these two outsiders will not bring harm to the Scarlet Devil Mansion or its inhabitants for the next day. Is that sufficient?" Akyuu felt her oath take hold of her. Not quite so thorough as a spellcard duel or a written contract, but she'd be hard pressed to escape even such a verbal one. She could tell from the confused and flustered faces that the two outsiders had felt it as well...

"I'd feel better if the mistress herself were here to oversee it, but that should suffice, yes. If you wouldn't mind leaving them here, it'd save her a trip later, but we're a little short staffed right now, so if you wouldn't mind continuing to watch them until the mistress returns?"

"Of course not, though please, have her take them off my hands as soon as possible. I'd rather not get too attached."

"Of course, of course. Now, I've told Reisen this, but you probably want to evacuate out the back... I'll be drawing the attackers attention from the front gate." Meiling stepped back, opened the gates, and stared very intently at a fairy as she ordered it to lead them to the guest wing. It nodded in understanding, and flew off... the four swiftly followed it.

* * *

_**The Halls of the Scarlet Devil Mansion**_

"I feel like we were missing a lot of that conversation." Maribel voiced the thought Renko was doubtless sharing.

"Hm? Oh, don't worry about that. Really, I'd rather not talk about it."

"Why didn't you even introduce us? You just kept talking about us like we weren't really there." Renko was a bit insulted.

"I said I'd rather not talk about it, so let it drop." Akyuu's pointed statement didn't seem to have the intended effect on the two outsiders, so Hiroyuki chimed in as well.

"She means it, you two. You're better off not knowing..." He turned to Akyuu. "You've already learned their names... are you sure it's alright to keep looking after them?"

"Hiroyuki, I'm not sure they were actually sent by Yukari. And if the mansion hasn't gotten its rations for the past few days, something is-" Akyuu noticed a terrified young woman turn a corner into their hallway, walking away from them, a short distance ahead. She wore those strange blue pants that outsiders tended to favor, and a simple white shirt with some meaningless symbol on it.

"Alright, nevermind. It seems Yukari is still maintaining her end of the bargain without any problems. I suppose they must be -really- short staffed if the gate guard never even heard they'd gotten their dues..." Akyuu corrected herself.

"Wait, but you were just talking about rations... what's she got to do with anything? She looks lost... we should probably go get her." Maribel spoke, concerned.

"Absolutely not. We were told not to stray from the path, so we won't. Not unless you really want to join her."

"Why wouldn't we? She's clearly someone else from our time and world. Well, thereabouts, anyway. I don't think that brand's been around for a while..." Renko was a bit confused.

Akyuu and Hiroyuki remained pointedly silent... the point of course, going over Renko's head. She took a deep breath, but as she was about to call out a greeting, Hiroyuki covered her mouth and spoke in a very hushed voice.

"I can't believe you outsiders manage to make it to adulthood. Let me spell it out for you. Remilia Scarlet is a vampire. So is her sister. Vampires drink blood. That woman there is clearly an outsider. They are rationed one outsider a day for sustenance. You two are also outsiders. Everything clear, now?"

Renko and Maribel would have stopped in their tracks if Hiroyuki hadn't kept shoving them along behind Akyuu, who was doing her best to ignore the conversation taking place, though she seemed at least slightly relieved that she didn't need to give the speech this time. Instead, as they closed the distance, she began weaving a weak spell... but against an outsider, it wouldn't need to be strong.

"Then we can't just leave her here!" Renko shouted, and the girl's eye was drawn towards the quartet. Hiroyuki saw this and threw Renko to the floor... Akyuu's magic was enough to do the rest. The dim illumination from sparse torches on the walls caused the shadows to dance, and Akyuu's minor spell changed their choreography, giving the illusion of a person being thrown to the ground and torn apart in silhouette.

The outsider was enough on edge that she looked only for a moment before sprinting blindly off in the opposite direction and ducking around a corner. Akyuu let out a sigh of relief, but kept her stride behind the intensely focused fairy they were following, who seemed oblivious to the entire incident.

Hiroyuki pulled Renko back to her feet, then ran to catch up with Akyuu. He heard the two outsiders follow.

"What just happened? What did you do? -Why!- We were that girl's chance to-"

"Doom others to her fate? Because I don't know about you, but I'm not much of a vampire hunter. And I plan to avoid getting on any youkai's bad side, let alone Remilia's." Hiroyuki explained the core of his philosophy.

"Hiroyuki, something is amiss. Sakuya isn't the one guiding us to our destination, and Meiling said the mistress wasn't here... what could have stirred them to move?"

"You're right... And this communication failure... something -is- wrong." Hiroyuki eyes the outsiders warily as they continued on.

Soon the fairy that was guiding them rounded the corner, turning to them as they followed. She spoke as a distraught and panicked lunar rabbit ran from room to room behind her.

"Here you are!"

* * *

_**Marisa's House**_

Byakuren was a wreck... Yuuka's retribution had lived up to her promise. Unable to speak from her injured jaw, the only sounds for several minutes had been those of breaking bones and Byakuren's screams of pain and terror as Yuuka had used a combination of magic, nearby plants, and her own body to shatter all four of Byakuren's limbs. Then Byakuren's own screams stopped as Yuuka shattered the magician's jaw and dashed her head against a rock, causing a wound from which blood still flowed. The sound of breaking bones continued for sometime, now accompanied only by pitiful groans from the barely conscious Byakuren. Once the magician was fully unconscious, Yuuka stopped her revenge and looked back to Remilia.

"Well, you did say you'd pay her back double. She let you live, so I suppose you're simply returning that favor as well. Now then, shall we go?" Remilia addressed Yuuka, who pointed to Alice with an angry glare.

The dollmaster had seemed to regain a bit of her composure, and now stood with something akin to confidence as she looked to Yuuka and Remilia and spoke.

"I will not get in your way unless you put me in your path. And I don't recommend that. You've now seen what a fledgling magician like Byakuren can do. Do you really want to fight one that has even more power?" Alice said calmly. She didn't want to give away more than she needed to... and truthfully, Byakuren was the better mage by far. Considering what had just happened though, Alice's bluff just might work.

Yuuka glowered at Alice, and Remilia chuckled.

"I think she does. She beat Byakuren, didn't she? Why not you next?" Remilia calmly replied.

"I've had some time to prepare. Do you really want to face... this?" Alice grinned confidently, smoothly masking her worry. Then, she took a risk... a tremendous risk... and let loose most of her body's restraints for a few moments, using a spell to partially unwind herself temporarily. The magic that had been used to make her body began to literally leak from her, and the air around her crackled with with power untapped...

But to Yuuka and Remilia, it seemed clear that Alice had far more power at her disposal than Byakuren... every pore of her body seemed to exude it, and Yuuka was still battered from her last fight... she herself looked a little wary of another fight of that magnitude.

"Your point has been made. Very well, I don't see any reason for you to get in our way. And it's already clear that simply beating you idiots into submission won't work, so I suppose we'll be going to the mansion after all." Remilia looked to Yuuka, who seemed itching for a fight, yet, and addressed her directly. "I was serious about Flandre being hungry, you know. We'd have to go there before we left, anyway. While I'm trying to find a new staff, I suppose I'll need to prepare her meals myself. You know, though, you might enjoy this cooking as well, Yuuka."

Yuuka's battered face still managed to express her doubt, but Remilia paid her no more mind as she looked at the very pale shrine maiden in her lap, who returned the gaze with nearly empty eyes.

"Yes, you've been a very good girl. Now I need to go, so if you'd just get up?"

Sanae tried to stand, but almost immediately fainted and fell hard, hitting the ground with a dull thud.

"Good enough. Well, enough delays. Let's be on our way, Yuuka. I'd like to thank Satori in person for leading me to you. You've really opened my eyes." Remilia said before flying off into the black sky, a grim Yuuka following her.

Alice stood impassively, that same grin on her face, her eyes still staring where the two had been. Her magic essence was no longer leaking out... but still, she was drained, and badly. So drained that she hadn't even heard the pair leave... couldn't appreciate the success of her bluff. If she hadn't programmed her dolls to keep her upright, her unconscious form would have done very little to intimidate Yuuka and Remilia.

Alice, Sanae, Kosuzu, Patchouli, Sakuya, and Byakuren... what remained of the three humans and three magicians were scattered around Marisa's house as its owner returned.

* * *

_**The Halls of the Scarlet Devil Mansion**_

"Is... everyone... still... fine?" Akyuu was out of breath. Hiroyuki was giving the smaller Tewi a ride on his back, while the two outsiders carried Toyohime, and Akyuu and Reisen bore Kaguya. Had the others had any breath to spare, they might have replied. As it was Akyuu scolded herself to using what little spare breath she had. The supplies Reisen was using had been magically stored away, a feat which had drawn the expected amount of surprise from the two outsiders. Rather than explain, of course, Akyuu had simply instructed the outsiders to lift one of the victims.

Taking the gate guard's words at face value may not have been terribly wise, in hindsight. The fairy they were following may be moving with resolve, but Akyuu was sure she'd seen this exact hallway several times before. For all her fantastic memory, her sense of direction and distances was muddled in this place. She wanted to just take off and fly, but knew she'd need to conserve the energy for when it was needed... one step at a time, though... how they'd get away from the manor wasn't quite as important as how they'd get out of it.

The fairy, of course, didn't have to worry about what they'd do -after- they found the exit, and it kept moving at a taxing speed. Everything looked the same to Akyuu... dimly lit red halls with red carpeting with the occasional hallway branching off.

The fairy opened a door, turned and curtsied. "I hope you enjoyed your stay."

Akyuu strained her eyes. She couldn't see much, of course... the flickering lights from the hall barely extended past the door, but the air that flowed from it suggested it was indeed -an- exit, at least. Though wary, her weariness made up her mind. She went into the darkness...

And her gasping breaths took in fresh air. As the others followed her through, Akyuu slowed and lowered Kaguya to the ground. Now all they needed to do was fly out of here as quickly as possible. Thankfully, Reisen had had some primitive stretchers prepared, and Akyuu, Reisen, and Hiroyuki might be able to manage their five passengers with them... and if not, Akyuu knew exactly who would be left behind.

* * *

_**Marisa's House**_

"Alice? What happened here?" Marisa spoke to the only person still standing. The multicolored lights that danced around her made her home seem quite different. Of course, the myriad of bodies strewn about and blood splattered all over did much more to steal away the feeling of a homecoming.

Alice didn't reply, and Marisa tuned her magical sight... it seemed obvious the puppeteer had overexerted herself... Looking around, Marisa followed the magical threads that spread form Alice and located the dolls that were braced in various trees and other vegetation to support Alice's posture.

She nearly tripped over a body as she approached Alice. Looking down, she felt her stomach churn. The purple robe was hardly even recognizable, let alone the corpse within. Marisa's eyes looked all over... Patchouli was dead, but the others looked ready enough to join her.

"Dammit! She should be here!" Marisa turned to a voice...

"Eirin? What are you talking about? Ah! What am I saying! Help these people!" Marisa called out.

"In good time. First, I need to know where Satori went."

"They don't have that much time!"

"The world itself has little more, Marisa." Eirin flatly stated, and began casting another divination. Marisa heard Alice whisper something... leaned closer, and heard Alice repeat herself again, voice filled with despair before once again blacking out... Marisa was merely confused until Eirin finished her spell.

The normally composed Lunarian was looking decidedly worried. "She's not here...? First the Moriya Shrine, then the Garden of the Sun, now here... I know the spell is working... so why isn't she here? There's no way she can move that fast!"

"Alice... well, she just said Satori's in Makai." Marisa relayed the message, and watched the blood drain from Eirin's face.

"Heavens forgive me..." Eirin suddenly doubted that she -had- been awakened from Medicine Melancholy's insidious poison. Her failures seemed to compound themselves... long ago, Eirin had doomed several souls to live forever... and now, she had doomed the world they lived in.

* * *

_**The Gates of the Scarlet Devil Mansion**_

Meiling sensed the auras coming from a fair distance away. They were hard to miss. Remilia's was hardly recognizable, far removed from her normally restrained self. Meiling hadn't seen her like that since what had become known as the 'vampire incident'. As for the other aura... well, that aura that dwarfed even her mistress's could be none other than Yuuka Kazami.

Mighty though it was... Yuuka's aura seemed rather off. Discolored and unstable... she'd clearly suffered a serious blow to her sense of self, and a great deal of physical damage as well... one of her arms and one of her legs seemed nearly dead to Meiling's Qi sense. Sudden worry struck her... if Yuuka had been the monster being spoken of...

Meiling steeled herself, preparing for the mental assault she knew her mistress didn't hesitate to use when she got like this.

"Meiling, You aren't sleeping on the job again, are you?"

"Of course not mis-" Meiling opened her eyes and stopped her sentence. Remilia looked like her normal self... yet her aura remained as violent and tumultuous as before the vampire incident... it just... wasn't right. The fresh blood on her dress and arms further confounded the illusion of a composed mind. And Yuuka... Yuuka looked like she shouldn't even be conscious... Meiling had no idea what could damage Yuuka to that extent... it looked like she'd been caught between two colliding trains.

"I something wrong, Meiling?"

"Ah, well, no... but I wasn't expecting visitors. Will your companion be joining you within the mansion?"

"But of course. She's come all the way from the Garden of the Sun. I intend to prepare some meals for Flandre with her help. I'll be going on a bit of a journey after that, so do try and keep the mansion in shape."

"Of... of course, mistress. What of... You know... Patchouli and Sakuya?" Meiling asked innocently enough, and the surge of rage in Remilia's aura was the only warning she had before she found her head in the vampires grasp.

"The freeloader is dead, killed by my own hand. Sakuya failed me too many times, and no longer exists as a result. I trust -you'll- remain useful, Hong?" Remilia growled into Meiling's face. Meiling's mastery of her Qi protected her from the charming gaze of her mistress... but that didn't change the answer she gave.

"Absolutely."

"Good. Now, I need to clear out some -other- good for nothings that have infested my home. Assuming you've no objections to my entering my own home?"

Meiling's heart sank. It was clear now who the monster she had been warned against was. The one person she couldn't bring herself to face... She prayed for forgiveness from Akyuu and the others as she gave her response.

"None at all. Welcome home, Scarlet Devil."

Remilia grinned as she entered. "Thank you. I think its time I started living up to that name again."

* * *

_Author's Notes:_ _I was considering having a scene where the outsiders are just awestruck by Kaguya's beauty, but decided it would kind of interrupt the flow a bit too much.__  
_

_Meanwhile, I'm worried I'm forgetting someone who was recuperating in the SDM, because there used to be so many patients there.  
_

_It's also getting to the point where I think I'm going to need to sit down and reread everything I've written so far to find some minor key points I've forgotten. I've got a lot planned yet, but I'm not sure how much of it will actually make it into the story, and how much might end up cut, or made into a sidestory or an epilogue or something. As I've foudn out, what I have planned doesn't necessarily fall in line with what happens, either.  
_

_So thank you once again for reading, everyone, and leaving reviews, to whom it applies. It really is inspiring.  
_


	23. Chapter 23

_**Makai**_

Satori had underestimated the effort the demons had put into the lunar invasion. She'd been flying at a rapid pace for hours, now, yet had still found nothing more aware than a dog would be. It was making it very difficult to find her way to a gate to the moon... if one even still existed. Along the way she'd made several damage decoys... using the abundant magic to create an unthinking, simple object, then keying it to her. Terribly inefficient... but in this world, efficiency wasn't a concern.

If Shinki was on the moon, however, Satori would need to leave this magical reservoir. While it might become a problem, she doubted it would be. She knew several ways to open gates to Makai, now. She collected a few of the less aware shards, in case she needed a gate, but the Grimoire of Alice had shown several ways to pull an immense amount of energy from Makai even without a gate; with one, she might as well be within the realm itself.

Her mind on the Grimoire, Satori pulled it out and flipped through it idly... part of her wanted to find out what other secrets it kept, though she knew she'd be unable to read it. Kosuzu hadn't made it terribly far, stalling for time as she had been doing. As Satori looked at the book, the confusing ink splotches and alien language written reformed, seeming to glide eagerly into a more legible font... the way the text seemed to flow was hypnotizing...

_Using anchored souls to create-_

Satori slammed the book shut and stowed it away. She struggled to keep breathing under control as her heart raced. She hadn't used Kosuzu's power... had she? She must have... she could tell the book had no heart, and nothing could hide its heart from her eye... right?

Doubt assailed her mind. After all, hadn't Koishi done that very thing? Hadn't Satori had trouble reading Yuuka's heart within her dream realm? Was the book alive, or had she subconsciously called on Kosuzu's ability to read it? Neither possibility filled her with anything other than dread. If she was losing control of herself... some of the powers she held could be apocalyptic... she had literally moved the world before. If the book itself were alive, then the terrifying book had -chosen- her.

No... her mind was clear... she could feel it. Satori took a few calming breaths, paying careful attention to her Qi, especially around her higher chakras... nothing abnormal. Then what had happened? Perhaps Koishi had been involved, somehow... Satori couldn't be sure... but she resolved not to draw forth the book again unless necessary.

* * *

_**Scarlet Devil Mansion**_

"The guard is still there... but we can probably sneak past, right?" Renko whispered to her friends. When Akyuu had mentioned that transporting them back would be difficult, they had volunteered to stay behind. Since then, they'd sneaked back around to the front gate. The pair had been told to hurry along to the village, but Reisen, Hiroyuki, and Akyuu hadn't truly tried to persuade them to come along; they had their hands full with the unconscious evacuees.

"Yeah. It looks like she's sleeping, and she's a good distance from the door, anyway." Merry sounded a little reluctant, actually. Renko couldn't blame her. They were hardly even able to see, guided only by the flickering torches mounted on the outside of the mansion. Of course, that meant it would be easier to slip in unnoticed, so she was rather thankful for the darkness. Come to think of it, The mansion sure looked a lot smaller from outside.

"Then now's our chance. We'll get in there, save those people, and get out."

"Yeah. I... kind of wish we could find the rear entrance, though." Merry and Renko had searched for some time, but the door was either concealed too well for them to spot in the low light, or simply gone. Whatever the case, they had failed to find any other entrances either... and were left with the front door. At least they were still within the fence, so they wouldn't need to get through the gate, now closed. They had become determined to save their fellow outsiders, and now stood at the first step towards that goal.

"Alright. Let's go." Renko moved quietly towards the front door, favoring stealth over speed. Merry followed in kind, and they made it to the door. Renko put her hand on the doorknob just as Maribel put her hand on Renko's shoulder. Renko whispered. "It doesn't seem like it's locked." Then she looked over to Merry, nearly a dozen feet away. She had just managed to finish disentangling herself from some of the hedges that grew in front of the mansion. Renko nervously looked behind her... if Maribel was over there...

The red haired gate guard stood, her presence alarming and her expression worried as she furtively looked around, then whispered conspiratorially to Renko and Maribel.

"Get out of here. If the mistress sees you, you're dead."

"No... we came here to-"

"Trust me, whatever it is, it isn't worth your life."

Merry looked nervous, unsure if she should approach. The guard waved her over with a determined stare, and Merry got close enough to hear the whispering.

"My life isn't worth any less than the others already inside." Renko said through gritted teeth.

"What?"

"Your mistress -has- been getting deliveries, and we're going to-" Renko started, but Merry hushed her... The gate guard seemed to have her own ideas, though.

"Go and get yourselves killed alongside them?"

"No!"

"Go into the forest, and manage to survive long enough to make it to the village or the shrine?"

"No, we're-"

"Those -are- your only options. And I'm not about to let you take the first one. Remilia will have enough blood on her claws without you throwing yourself upon them."

"We're -going- to save them!" Renko insisted.

"Isn't that awfully hard to do with a broken leg, though?" Renko merely looked confused as she replied.

"What? We're both-"

The guard's movement was swift and decisive, her right foot darting out to Maribel's right shin. A single strike, and Maribel's leg gave way, the cleanly broken bone breaking through her skin. As Renko moved to protect her, the guard grabbed both of them, one in each hand and hurled them well over the gate into the darkness. She heard two loud thuds... then two slightly softer ones as she watched their auras fall to the ground. Maribel's screams had stopped... it seemed the landing had thrown her into unconsciousness.

Meiling hoped they'd be able to escape the youkai that were doubtless prowling the area... Their chances were poor indeed with one of them suffering from a broken leg, but she could tell their resolve wouldn't have faltered in the face of anything less. And their chances of getting through the black, supernatural night were far greater than surviving even a single day alone in the mansion.

Meiling pulsed out her Qi and tried to shut out the echoes from within the mansion... the mistress was clearly cooking. The lonely gate guard couldn't let her own resolve fail... no, it was her duty to ensure that as few people as possible entered the Scarlet Devil Mansion.

For their own safety.

* * *

_**Makai**_

After just a few more minutes, Satori realized she'd been hearing a strangely familiar heart. Familiar, yet... not completely so. Initially, she thought it was Youmu... that echo was unmistakeable. Yet, the thoughts were far more organized, a sharp contrast to Youmu's childish mentality.

_Another Demon? I thought they'd all gone._ It was clear enough that the mind had noticed her. She focused her gaze on it once more, then decided to approach... still surprised at the vigor in her movements and swift speed. She detected hostility towards demons, and she was sure enough she could explain that she was merely a youkai.

"I'm no demon, Youki Konpaku. Really, I'd think you'd have enough enemies here without believing myself one."

"How did you know my name?" _I've told none here... none since I left Yuyuko's service..._

"It's written clearly in your heart. Don't worry, your grandaughter is getting along fairly well, though she's a bit scatterbrained. She's that young? I suppose that explains it. I hadn't realized your kind matured so slowly." Satori addressed the silent concerns she heard, while Youki grew concerned... _A satori? I've not met a living one for centuries..._ Satori addressed this as well, of course.

"You needn't worry about meeting any others. I'm the last of my kind, alas. I'm actually curious about your former mistress-" Satori swiftly moved to avoid the attack Youki launched.

"I'll not have you cause her any trouble." The blade barely touched Satori's skirt, but she was amazed at the speed the man moved... far faster than one of his age ought to, especially in a realm as draining to the body as Makai. His phantom half started interposed itself between them, concealing his moves with its opaque body. Satori didn't need to see what he was doing to foil it, however, reading his moves from his heart and mind rather than his body.

The man's blade was a simple curved katana, well maintained, but clearly well used as well. He drew forth another smaller blade as well now. Ready for action despite its obvious age, Youki's human form stood quite a bit taller than Satori, even as he crouched slightly to improve his balance.

Satori fashioned a pair of simple poles with cross guards from the magic around her, holding the handle while using echoes of Medicine Melancholy's ability to coat the striking surface with a paralyzing and nonlethal poison... a simple one, but effective. The weapon itself held just enough of an edge to deliver the poison. Satori was confident she could defeat this man, then take all the time she needed to scour his heart. She herself assumed a stance much like his... all of his techniques were there, ready to be used by someone in good physical condition... and Satori, for once in her life, was.

_A potent mage, it seems? And a warrior, too, judging from her stance. I never thought I'd see a satori again, let alone one so skilled._

"If it's truly a fight you want, then you'll get one. Know that though I'm not eager to fight, I've seen far more battles than most of my kind ever had. You -will- lose." Satori thought about declaring a spellcard duel, but even as empty as Makai seemed to be, spellcard duels were a fantastic way to attract attention that she really didn't need right now.

"I'll put you to rest... it would be best if you didn't resist." The man had made his decision... _She doesn't belong here. Best to simply send her into into Yuyuko's care... Perhaps she'll be reincarnated as something better.  
_

* * *

_**The Kitchen of the Scarlet Devil Mansion**_

Remilia looked around the room. It felt rather empty... there were even fewer maids than before, it seemed. At least the spatial distortion magic was still in effect... she wasn't sure what would happen if it had fallen when her former head maid had retired, but it probably wouldn't be pretty.

Yuuka, meanwhile, seemed rather unimpressed. "It's just a normal kitchen. Whatever... just make something quick so we can go. I'm only here because I want there to be a Gensokyo when we're finished with Satori."

"I know, I know. Trust me, if we don't do this now, Flandre's going to lose it. Yukari's still probably asleep and Reimu is gone, and I doubt anything else could stop her."

"So you say."

"I do. If you want, you can go and play with her while we wait... that would probably get the point across, if you don't believe me. I suppose you wouldn't need to worry about your 'other half' if you did. Or you could stay here and help me cook."

"You know I don't cook. My sunflowers are perfectly pleased with whatever I give them."

"Oh, it doesn't need to taste amazing, but there are a few things that can be done easily enough which improve the taste, and I really think you'll be able to help a lot with the seasoning."

Yuuka merely lifted an eyebrow. Remilia grabbed a silly chef's apron and an even more ridiculous chef's hat. Both were clean and white.

"I'll be right back. I'm sure we've got something around here..." Remilia dashed out of the room, an enormous gust of wind signaling her departure. Yuuka idly looked around the room, floating her battered body around, examining cabinets and such for about a minute. Then Remilia returned, holding a -very- confused young woman in a white shirt and odd blue pants.

"There we go. Just needed some raw ingredients." Remilia said to Yuuka, before saying something in some other tongue to the woman... several different things? No... probably several different tongues? Eventually the woman replied, still looking extremely confused, and, noticing Yuuka's terrible injuries, now a little terrified as well. Remilia turned back to Yuuka.

"Yeah, she looked like she was from there. In that case I'll just need a spot of this..." Remilia put the woman down and flew over to a high cupboard, gathering some spices as she muttered to herself some sort of ingredient list. Yuuka looked at the 'raw ingredients', which still exhibited more confusion than fear. That would change soon, it seemed... yes, perhaps she might enjoy this after all.

* * *

_**Makai**_

They dove at each other, and Satori's magical weapon collided against Youki's steel blade as he masterfully parried the attack, ready to followup with a simple yet effective strike at Satori's overreached form. But just as Youki knew a way out of her position, so did she... she stepped forward, foiling the wide strike she had left herself open to, even ending up a position for a simple upward thrust to hit his chin and inflict the poison her weapon carried.

He realized how open he had left himself, and fell backwards, catching himself with his hands and launching himself over a dozen feet away with the smallest magical push.

"You're really something." He said, raising his guard once again.

"I may not be better than you, but matching you? Not difficult at all." Satori was confident, and as they continued, striking and countering, she grew more and more confident. The old man was tiring, while Satori remained as strong as ever, fueled not by her own stamina, but by Makai's limitless magic. It was a match of endurance, and there could be only one outcome. Soon, his strikes and dodges would be too slow, she would land a hit, and she could sift through his mind to get the information she needed.

Before the man grew that fatigued, though... something happened. Satori naturally watched the man's mind carefully, not only reading her opponent's moves, but how to defeat them. She was inside Youki's mind... using the swordmaster's skill against him. She read him perfectly as he swung his blade, as he dodged, and as they parried each other's blows. With her chakras open, she was surrounded by his mind. Every thought, every signal, no matter how small or insignificant, was relayed to her as quickly as to his own body.

Then, she was surrounded by nothing.

* * *

_**Suzunaan**_

There was no way. Udonge had been pushing herself, but they were just too ill. She'd been able to identify most of the diseases, and only their youkai nature had managed to spare Nazrin and Ichirin for any length of time, but Tenshi... Tenshi was breathing her last. Tenshi's sputtering coughs wracked her body as color rapidly drained from her face.

"How're they doing?"

"Hm? Oh. Hi, Mima." Udonge was distracted trying to buy Tenshi even a little more time... if Byakuren didn't come here soon... well, Udonge wasn't sure what happened to a celestial when they succumbed to disease... the entire situation was unbelievable.

"That bad, hm?" Mima looked over the scene... and seemed to notice something. She hummed quietly to herself.

"If you aren't doing anything, could you get some-"

"Udonge, was it? You're a rabbit youkai... right?"

"Of course I am." Udonge was upset at the waste of her breath. She moved swiftly, retrieving a mask connected to a small tank filled with a soothing gas. Perhaps she could alleviate that coughing... if left untreated, Tenshi's body would be exhausting itself even faster...

"Well, if you're willing to change that, there might be a way to save them." Mima offered.

"What do you mean?" Udonge was all ears... wilted and sad looking though they may be.

"It's just a hunch I have, but looking at you, I might be able to change you into something with the power to heal nearly anything."

"And the cost?" Such things never came free...

"Only that you give credit where credit is due." Mima shrugged, clearly not terribly interested in the repayment.

"I don't know... You want to change me somehow, at no cost..." Udonge was doubtful.

"I should tell you, it may feel odd... you may hear some thoughts you don't quite think are your own as your nature and inner voice change."

"Just what are you planning to do to me?" Udonge looked at Mima, still questioning her intent...

"I don't think we have the luxury of having me repeat myself. Will you accept this change?" Mima indicated Tenshi, who was now vomiting into the mask and choking on it.

Udonge took Tenshi's mask off and turned her to her side, but Tenshi seemed unable to get her breath back, her coughing now worse than before...

"Alright... I will... and if it doesn't work..." Udonge said, the implied threat carrying little weight, though Udonge meant it with all her heart... she was willing to pay any price to save her patients, but save them she would. Mima swiftly glided up to Udonge and placed a hand on her sore forehead. Udonge saw a brief surge of magic, but couldn't identify it. And after it had faded, she didn't feel different at all.

"There we go. That wasn't so bad, now was it? Now, touch your forehead to Tenshi, and if I'm right..."

Udonge didn't hesitate... if Mima said this might work, than it was at least worth a try. She gently lowered her head, touching her forehead gently to Tenshi's gut. Oddly, the sore spot on her head ceased aching as the world began to sound a bit more muffled and distant...

Somewhat more oddly, Tenshi's coughing eased up with surprising swiftness, soothed by Udonge's mere gesture. Once it stopped completely, Udonge lifted her head and was shocked. The color had returned to Tenshi's face. Her skin was still covered in sweat, but her breathing was regular, her pulse even, and perhaps most surprisingly, the break in her arm was healed.

Tenshi sat up, grasping her own forehead with her hand. "What happened? Where am I?" She looked around, confused but quite healthy otherwise. Udonge was still too stunned at whatever had just happened to reply.

"You're in the human village. By the way, Udonge, you should probably treat the other two as well. Same method should work." Mima calmly advised while continuing to explain to Tenshi. "Anyway, she was treating you, and it seems you've just pulled through."

Udonge, still unsure of what she had done... repeated the process on Ichirin and Nazrin, to find that it worked admirably on them as well, as they awoke with confused expressions on their faces. Unzan darted out from the corner he had been hiding in and grasped Ichirin in a joyful hug.

"Udonge... the name's familiar... but wait, you don't mean her, do you?" Tenshi asked Mima, indicating Udonge once more.

"Of course I do. Who else but a Kirin could heal such afflictions so easily?"

* * *

_**Nowhere and Nothing**_

Nothing at all.

Satori looked, but had no eyes with which to see. She saw nothing... heard nothing... smelled nothing... felt nothing. And yet, her senselessness was overwhelming. The oppressive void began to crush her... suffocating and devouring. She couldn't even struggle to fight back.. she had no will, no body, and no mind. There was no Makai, there was no Gensokyo... there was no life, and there was no death. Satori couldn't breathe... and didn't need to. None of those existed, so how could she?

The void's weightless mass engulfed her, ready to erase the hated spark of thought in its empty world.

Then Satori... felt something, suddenly. A familiar sensation. Far away... incomprehensibly far... she reached out for it... seeking something, anything to escape this. Despite its distance, her reach managed to touch it.

Pain flowed through her. This time, though, it was a welcome relief... The void around her found itself replaced by the pain she had grasped. Her body ached and begged for her attention with a torrent of agony.

Yes... she had a body... and she had a mind. And she finally felt the pain from her body... and heard the terror from her mind.

* * *

_**Makai**_

The satori's scream echoed through the realm of magic. No thoughts of a foe to fight crossed her mind... only a blind panic and a terrible pain.

"Sis! Hey, Sis! Calm down!" Koishi's words were almost comforting before she added. "You're not nearly as bad as when you fell asleep that time back home."

The stray thought of Yuuka crossed Satori's mind and a familiar terror reawakened within her. She sobbed helplessly as Koishi looked on confused.

_My apologies. I didn't realize you had a sister. From your words, I had thought you alone._ A deeply soothing and calm mental voice provided a platform for Satori to rest on... she pulled herself onto it, out of the surging waves in her own mind. As she looked at the rescuing platform, she realized who it was, and she felt a terror even deeper than that she felt from Yuuka.

This man, Youki Konpaku... had nearly annihilated Satori, and she knew it. Yuuka's flowers at least existed in some sense... a twisted, empty shell of their former selves... but far, far more intact than what Satori had nearly become. Satori's tears and blood continued spilling onto the bizarre ground of Makai.

The several serious cuts she was sporting were a far smaller concern than the rifts that had opened in her mind. Weary of the mental platform she stood on, aware that it could be pulled out from underneath her at any time, she began to seal them... to distance herself further from the oblivion that had nearly consumed her.

* * *

_**Suzunaan**_

"A Kirin?" Udonge had heard of the legendary creatures, but had never met one... even her master had never done so, as far as Udonge knew.

"Yes. You aren't fully mature as a Kirin, but you should have little difficulty dealing with minor injuries like these. Unless I miss my guess, you should be able to treat the mental strain your other patients have undergone as well. It will probably tire you out, but the more you push yourself, the faster you'll grow." Mima spoke confidently, as though she'd given a similar speech several times before.

Udonge turned to hear her three former patients, now awake and whispering... She strained to hear... and was surprised she needed to considering how close they were.

"I haven't seen a Kirin for a decade at least... and I've never seen something... -change- like that." Tenshi was staring at Udonge.

"I have..." Nazrin and Ichirin said simultaneously. Ichirin looked pointedly towards the quiet, faithful Unzan, while Nazrin simply added "Master did as well..."

"I suppose I haven't been paying attention..."

"It doesn't happen often. I only know of a few others who've changed their nature..." Nazrin shrugged.

"Come to think of it, didn't Kyouko, as well?" Ichirin whispered.

"That's what I heard, but-" Nazrin quietly replied.

"Come now, ladies... it's rude to whisper like that." Mima chastised them.

Tenshi turned her eyes down, ashamed. "Well, sorry for being a little surprised at watching a rabbit change in front of my eyes. Even from within Heaven, we haven't seen a Kirin for..." Tenshi paused, as though she were thinking. "Over a decade? No, it must have been longer. Centuries, at least. And I've been watching Gensokyo closely, and none appeared here, either..."

"Really? I thought... hadn't one lived in Gensokyo? I was wondering... maybe it was just a rumor after all." Mima dismissed the thought as Udonge started towards the door.

"Leaving already?" Tenshi obviously took this as an offense, but Udonge continued on her way out.

"There are others who need my help, and I intend to see to them."

"I'll do what I can to help." Ichirin offered following after Udonge, with Nazrin's words following her out the door.

"I'll let the others at the temple know what's happened."

* * *

_**The Human Village**_

Udonge saw a rather larger crowd than she was expecting near the village's center. That is, she saw a crowd at all... and she could feel their pain, both physical and mental... almost as though it were a terrible beast casting it's shadow over the crowd.

"What... where did they all come from?"

"Keep distant, foul beast! I'll not let you harm them!"

"Ignore Futo. You know where we can find a doctor? These people are... well, unhealthy, but I'm not really sure of any more than that." Tojiko shrugged.

"Surely you don't mean to seek the abetment of this fiend!"

"I can help them... I think. I hope. I'm a competent healer." Udonge wasn't terribly sure she could destroy that level of toxicity... toxicity that felt very familiar indeed. "But Medicine's poisons are complex... it might take some time."

"Competent nothing. You're a miracle worker." Ichirin affirmed as she approached, Unzan casting a pink shade over Udonge and Ichirin.

Futo glared at Ichirin and shouted. "You... I demand that you shed your deceptive veils!"

Ichirin's response wasn't exactly what Futo had been hoping for. "We can sort out our differences later. Please, this Kirin needs to treat these people."

Futo raised a dubious eyebrow. "'Tis true they need a physician, but only an ignoramus would entrust their treatment to a youkai."

"Well, there aren't a lot of other options. Master is busy-"

"And she's only an apprentice, at that."

"She cured me... and I've never been so ill before in my long life. She can and -will- help these people, and I'm not going to let your prejudices keep them in torment." Unzan drew closer to Ichirin as she made her proclamation.

Futo drew spellcards, and Ichirin readied her own... "The winner determines how these people will be treated." Ichirin suggested, and Futo's agreement came a swift attack, beginning to the duel.

Udonge, meanwhile, looked to the crowd... and heard Tojiko whisper into her ear. "If you can fix them, or give me any advice on how to do so, I'll do what I can. I don't know who will win, but if these people are already treated, then how they -will- be isn't exactly relevant, is it?"

Udonge nodded. "I think they've been poisoned by Medicine Melancholy. I... I think I can heal them, though. I mean, if I could fix Ichirin... this is just... more, right?"

"Do what you can, and I'll see what I can do about the rest..." Tojiko said, watching Udonge intently as the former rabbit approached the crowd.

* * *

_**Makai**_

"What did you do, old man?" Koishi asked.

"I simply fought..."

"He emptied his mind to do so. Acted without thought... -was-... without thought. I can only assume Koishi stopped you?"

"That's your sister, then? Yes... I don't know how long we fought but I seem to have lost thoroughly. She fights without thinking... without needing to. I can enter such a state, but even then it isn't completely perfect... if it were, I suspect you wouldn't be with us, now."

"The... darkness... no... not even darkness..."

"I can't imagine what it must have been like for you, but... I'm sorry. I had simply taken you at your word that you were the last, and thought..."_perhaps you'd be better off... not being._

"Koishi... isn't really a satori... she's closed her third eye."

"I've never heard of such a thing happening."

"And after we've left, you'll likely forget about it... Koishi's even hard for me to keep track of."

"Only because you don't know how to look for me." Koishi piped up.

"I wish I did, but It's unfortunately a much larger task than you think. Now, Youki, I hope that you don't mind my asking, but your former mistress, lady Yuyuko Saigyouji? What caused you to leave her service?" Satori would prefer to simply delve into Youki's heart to learn everything she needed to... but she simply didn't trust that it wouldn't fall out around her again. The very thought of that happening again sent a chill through her soul. She therefore averted her eye's focus as much as she could and asked instead.

"I sensed something was amiss in the world, and went to look into it. She wasn't terribly pleased, I imagine, but my granddaughter had been trained well enough. She was able to perform all the techniques I had mastered at that point." _She truly is a prodigy with the blade... worthy to bear our name._

"Ah... Unfortunately, it seems she doesn't quite have the clarity of thought that you possess... "

"Then how could she have used my techniques? They require a firm understanding of the ways of the world in order to use..."

"I couldn't say. It seems her prodigal skills don't quite cover that, though."

"I see. Perhaps I should return to her, then... and what brings you out here, Satori Komeiji."

"Well, first, I have another question about Yuyuko... she's currently imprisoned, from what I understand... how much do you know about that?"

"Ah, that is a complex story. I doubt you'd want to hear it all." _She was used as a sacrifice to seal the Saigyou Ayakashi... such a sacrifice bound the tree to the Netherworld and her to it._

"I see. And how do you think she would react to being freed? For instance, perhaps another could take her place?

"Only if they had some control over the flow of souls. She was chosen as the sacrifice for that very reason. She killed people with her mere presence, I heard. That's why the Konpaku family was sworn to her; as half-phantoms,, we're already part dead, so her ability couldn't draw our souls from our bodies. We're too used to keeping them leashed, you see."

"I see... but you didn't answer my first question. Do you think she would want to be freed?"

Youki pondered this for a time. "I do. Even with her death causing power, I think she'd prefer to live once again. It's a moot point, though." _She's bound to that tree and to the netherworld for all eternity. Nothing can take her place._

"Didn't you say earlier that someone with control over souls could?"

"In all my years, I've yet to meet another like her."

"Well, you've met me."

"You... you can control souls?" Youki looked suddenly concerned and his phantom half drew in closer.

"No... well, not yet.. not here. But in her presence? Almost certainly. I think... maybe I could learn to take her place."

"I wouldn't wish that upon you. She would like to be free, but she seems to be well suited to her position... no offense to you, but I don't think you'd do very well among all those spirits."

"I manage the hell of Blazing Fires." Satori's flat declaration surprised Youki. _Wasn't that one shut down a few centuries ago?_

"Indeed. I have been keeping it maintained, and recently, it has reentered use... there's a war going on, you see... well, there was until the Lunarians lost. It is to stop the demon's invasion of Gensokyo and the Earth that I now fight. It's why I came here, to the realm of demons... and... well, I'm quite surprised I haven't seen more."

"That would be my work. I've killed a great many of them... I've been a bit of a pain in their side for some time, but one doesn't work for Yuyuko without learning a few ways to avoid being noticed."

"I... think Youmu has yet to master that particular bit."

"I can't say I envy the poor girl, then. I really do need to stop by when I get a chance, now... Yuyuko's a... well, a ghost. She doesn't feel fatigue, and it's been so long since she has that I think she forgets her servants need rest.

"Youmu will get by fine."

"I hope so, though I'm beginning to think I should check up on her, now. Back to the task at hand, then. About a month or two ago many of them left... It's hard to keep track of time here, but it seems about that long. Rumor among them had them going to the Earth's moon, and I think I've found the gate they used, but I've decided to clean up Makai, first. They'll probably be in for a bit of a surprise when they come back here, but I'd rather have somewhere to fall back to." Youki said, his intentions clear.

"You truly mean to slay -every- demon? By yourself?"

"Indeed. I can't truly succeed, of course... not until Shinki is dealt with somehow, but the more I disrupt them, the less time and resources they have to attack other realms." _It's a good enough way to live out my last years. Though, if what she says is true, I really need to teach Youmu a few more things..._

"I suppose. If you're still interested in getting to the gate, I think I may be able to find my way there, now that I know what I'm looking for."

"I am. I don't think there are many more demons here to fight, so I should move on." _How does she intend to find it, though? I suppose she is a powerful mage._

"It's a little simpler than that, actually. Everything around us is alive... I can simply ask the land itself where they saw demons going. Most won't understand, but enough will."

"I see... well, two will do better than one in any case, so perhaps we'd best go together, anyway."

"Perhaps, but please, I beg of you..." Satori shuddered and looked at Youki with a pleading look in her eyes. "Don't empty your mind again."

_It was that bad...? Her eyes almost seem empty..._

"It was. I've been through a great many tortures... and none of them compare to being lost in an empty mind."

"I see. It's a good thing your sister was around."

"Yes, it was. Thank you, Koishi. You saved me..." Satori looked around, trying to find her sister.

"I suppose I did. You're welcome! Just... just don't ever start to go away like that again, okay? I..." Satori saw something... a faint, distant glimmer of life in Koishi's empty eyes. "I... well, never mind. I felt odd, that's all."

Koishi's words echoed in Satori's ears, filling her with a new hope. _'I felt...'_

* * *

_**Marisa's house/Netherworld**_

"Things can't really be as bad as you say." Marisa held out hope.

"I suppose not. If Alice's gibbering about her book is any indication, they're far worse than that." Eirin's response carried her concern and despair.

"Look, if Satori managed it, then-"

"Marisa, it... doesn't even matter... perhaps it... would just... be better to let... the world... die..." Alice interjected, though she was still clearly drained.

"Well aren't you two just brimming with cheer? Well, I'm not giving up 'till I'm dead. There must be a way; we just need to find it." Marisa stated with simple conviction.

"Marisa, you -are- dead, remember?" Reimu's tired voice pointed out. "Now could you please keep it down?"

"Not now, Reimu, I'm trying to get these people off their rears. You'd think the world were poised on the brink of oblivion or some such."

"Thinking that we're only on the brink of oblivion is far too optimistic." Eirin pointedly reminded her. "Deny it as you will, but you're losing it, yourself, aren't you? Reimu's nowhere near here."

"Eirin, Marisa... died. And... didn't die. It's... complicated. But..." Alice said slowly, before being interrupted by an impatient Marisa.

"Now I'm both in Gensokyo and the Netherworld. Reimu's in the Netherworld. So I talked to her a little, just now. I'm getting better at working with having two bodies, but apparently I still slip up a little when stressed." Marisa hurriedly explained, with Eirin giving an understanding nod.

"Well, I suppose you'll be able to give us a nice warm welcome when we arrive, then." Eirin mused dryly.

"We -are- going to get through this! Byakuren may be in a bit of a sorry state-"

"You have a knack for understatment, don't you, Marisa? If I hadn't been here, she'd be dead. Fortunately, I couldn't save Patchouli... she got to slip by the end of the world." Eirin said.

"Patchouli... Wait, where is she? Reimu, she should be here, shouldn't she?"

"What, you think I've gone into the crowd to check? You're welcome to look, but it sounds like she just died a bit ago, so she probably hasn't arrived, yet."

"I suppose not. It has only been a few minutes..." Marisa shrugged.

"Minutes? Oh... heavens, no. Patchouli's been dead for days, at least. Unusually well preserved thanks to some truly impressively toxic poisons... doubtless the same ones that killed her. The cuts obviously -would- have been fatal if she'd still been alive, but you can't kill a corpse." Eirin explained. She'd given Patchouli a cursory look before determining that the magician was indeed beyond her abilities to help.

Marisa suddenly looked worried. "But then, where... Reimu, I'm going to go look for her."

"Suit yourself. Shouldn't be hard finding her." Reimu replied as Marisa started rummaging around, preparing to leave, while still trying to stay at her house and hold a conversation with Eirin.

"I'll look for Patchouli. With four magicians working on this, and your own knowledge, we'll find a solution, I'm sure. We're only dead when we give up, after all." Marisa's inspiring speech lifted spirits a bit, but it was clear it would take more than a few encouraging words to rouse them enough to actually help. She walked up to Sanae, currently sitting with her head buried in her knees.

"Come on, where's your usual enthusiasm? Upset because you lost a fight? Hey, even -I- lose, sometimes." Marisa received a heavy glare and a simple reply in return for her efforts.

"Yeah but you don't have... never mind." Sanae buried her head again.

Marisa threw her arms in the air. "Fine. Just get back to the mountain before your gods bury Gensokyo under a lava flow." Mrisa heaved Sanae to her feet and moved on to the maid. "Sakuya... shouldn't you be heading back, now? The last thing we need is Remilia causing a mess looking for you." Marisa called over to the silver haired maid... who just looked at Marisa with empty eyes.

"She's suffered severe psychological shock. I'll see what I can do, but she's going to need some help... help I wouldn't have time to give, even if it were worth restoring her just to see the end." Eirin stated flatly.

"Alright... fine. Just... argh! -I'm- going to start figuring out how to save the world. If you'd like to join me, I'll be inside. If not, then there's a trio of fairies that's been having a hard time back at the shrine, so either get in, or get out there and show them the same fantastic bedside manner you're showing here." Marisa said as she stormed into the house. She heard Kosuzu start talking with Eirin as she slammed the door behind her.

"Hm? You were talking about them earlier... now all three are effected?" Reimu could guess the fairies she was talking about.

"Of course! With the sky gone, of course the power of the sun, moon, and stars is vanishing."

"The -sky- is -GONE-?" Reimu shouted in disbelief. "You -must- be joking!"

"How could you miss... nevermind. The Netherworld's sky is different... not too surprising, I suppose."

"How can the sky be gone?"

"Eirin says Satori put the world in a pot or something. Now she's all depressed that the world's doomed, and... well, if we don't fix this quickly, she'll be right. It's getting awfully cold again."

"Here you are, Reimu. My meal is ready, I take it?" Yuyuko loomed over Reimu.

"Yuyuko, we're discussing something very important right now. Your meal can wait."

"Oh, I heard what you were talking about. But unless you've suddenly become a prodigy of magical theory, you're probably better off in the kitchen. Don't worry, winter's almost over, so Yukari might decide to let you back when she wakes up." Yuyuko's tone left little room for debate, but Reimu's glare made clear her thoughts at being bossed around, even as her tired shuffle betrayed her fatigue.

"I notice you've conveniently ignored that the winter might -never- end." Marisa pointed out.

"Have some faith in yourself. You and the others will come up with something, I'm sure."

"I'm glad -someone- else seems to think so." Marisa pouted.

"They'll come around. They've just been through a lot, I'll bet. Ahh, how I wish I could have seen what happened to them with my own eyes." Yuyuko said, floating back towards the kitchen to keep heckling Reimu.

* * *

_**Human Village**_

Akyuu was rather surprised to see a spellcard duel over the village... She couldn't see who was fighting at this distance, but Unzan and Ichirin were obviously participants, at least. She started to descend, thinking it best not to get involved. Hiroyuki and Udonge followed.

Akyuu landed and nearly slumped over as she put her load on the ground. She had been carrying Tewi, the lightest by far, but carrying her such a distance made Akyuu's arms feel like they were made of lead. Hiroyuki wasn't faring much better; he had been carrying Kaguya, as Reisen had insisted on carrying Toyohime. Reisen herself seemed to be just fine, though. She wasn't strong among youkai, but she was still more fit than a typical human. Noting this, Akyuu made a simple request.

"Reisen... go... ahead... bring... Udonge here."Akyuu gasped out, surprised at her level of breathlessness. The Lunar Rabbit nodded and, carefully putting Toyohime down, bounded towards the village.

* * *

Udonge had never felt so drained before. Perhaps launching herself headfirst into the giant mass of masterfully crafted toxin -hadn't- been her brightest idea ever, but it had seemed... right. Even now, hardly able to move, she didn't regret it at all... The dark cloud she had seen was now gone... the humans of the village now slightly shocked, but otherwise fine. Had she the energy to laugh, she'd have done so... it was just too unbelievable. A poisonous combination that had taken days to cleanse from a single person normally... had she really just cleansed hundreds in an instant?

The duel had just ended when Udonge heard someone calling her voice... someone she hadn't seen for a while, now.

"Udonge? Are you here?"

"Reisen? It -is- you! Oh, thank the heavens." Udonge was relieved as she saw the Lunar rabbit run into view.

"Udonge...? Is that you? What happened?" Reisen asked her prone companion.

"Of course I'm myself... who else would I be?"

"You... do look a little like her... and sound a lot like her..." Reisen still seemed unsure...

"Of course I do. I'm me... What are you talking about?"

"She's confused because your ears are gone." Ichirin explained as Unzan lowered her to the ground.

"What?" Udonge mustered the strength to touch her head, and sure enough, the long rabbit ears that had marked her as a Lunar Rabbit were gone... replaced with a single, small, curved horn...

"Now do you understand our confusion? What did you come here for, though?" Ichirin addressed her question to the still confused Lunar Rabbit.

"I just... came to get Udonge. There are some people who need treatment, and-"

"More...? Wait, you really did it? You managed to get the princess and the others?" Udonge asked from her position on the ground.

Reisen nodded, and Udonge replied "Thank you so much... Master would kill me if I let anything more happen to the princess..." She struggled to her feet. "Where are... they...?"

"Perhaps you'd best put off treating them?"

"I... I can do it..."

"At least let Unzan and I bring them here. Please, save your energy for actually healing them. It seems it takes a lot out of you." Ichirin suggested. Futo clearly -wanted- to complain, but she had had her chance to do so and lost it.

"Alright. I'll just... wait here, then." Udonge looked relieved and collapsed once again, lying on her back and gazing up at the empty sky. The quiet bustle of the villagers as they set about reclaiming their homes soon became the only noise, and she couldn't be sure just how long she watched the still night.

* * *

_Author's notes: Short chapter, it seems... yet, one that's kind of bothered me. I'm worried about the Udonge thing. It's been in the works for a -long- time, but that doesn't make me less nervous about it._

_I also feel bad about off-screening so many spellcard duels. If/when I go through this thing after finishing it and do touch ups, I might add them if I've figured out a good way to write them.  
_

_This chapter also reminded me why I don't like having big groups in one place... conversations more complicated than dialogues require a lot of rather dry text to clarify who's speaking. Perhaps I'm going overboard with it... _

_And while we're on my insecurities, I'm all paranoid about Hiroyuki being some sort of show stealer just by being an OC. Also worried that I leave in my "notes" and miss them as I edit, especially as I put spoilers in there on occasion. Also that the Earth, the Moon, and their orbits wouldn't actually be meaningfully affected by what Satori's spell did. I'm possibly just being too hard on myself.  
_

_At some point, "the wee hours of Thursday morning" turned into "Thursday morning proper", so now I go. Thank you everyone for reading and reviewing; those insecurities are small obstacles indeed when I'm so driven, fueled by the knowledge that other people enjoy this story as much as I do.  
_


	24. Chapter 24

_**The Scarlet Devil Mansion's Kitchen.**_

Remilia tapped her foot impatiently. She had forgotten how tediously boring waiting for the meal to finish cooking could be. Yuuka was still having fun with what remained of the person who had been the source of the blood used so far, and Remilia was thankful for her efforts... Yuuka was truly amazing at keeping the outsider in a state of panic... it would make the blood far more appealing and any advantage she had when delivering Flandre's dinner would be welcome.

While waiting, Remilia had gone to evict the patients that had been living in her guest wing, only to find the place hastily abandoned. It seemed they had been warned of her intent, somehow. Meiling couldn't be the culprit... she had been quite surprised herself to see Remilia. It must have been one of the magicians at Marisa's house, then. Remilia had resolved to extract payment from the hides of her former 'tenants', only to find them missing. She growled as her frustration returned, eliciting a terrified yelp from the drained and mangled outsider, and a curious look from Yuuka. Remilia gave a dismissive wave, and Yuuka returned to crushing the outsider's hope.

Remilia wanted terribly to disembowel those thankless dwellers. Patchouli had at least been useful from time to time, but all that those injured and their caretakers had done was tear up the guest wing and use up supplies, some of which were outright impossible to acquire locally. And then they had left without so much as a thank you, skittering away at the slightest hint that Remilia would return in a bad mood.

They had abused her hospitality... and whoever had contacted them had encouraged this breach of etiquette. Remilia clenched her hands into fists... thanks to Satori and her meddling, Sakuya and Patchouli were gone. That youkai from underground had stirred everything up... helped bring those most rude guests... then ruined Remilia's plan to save Gensokyo... and Remilia wasn't about to forget that. She had spent so much time finding Sakuya and rearing both her and Patchouli, but all that effort was wasted... sacrificed because Satori insisted on preventing Remilia from saving Gensokyo.

Remilia looked to Yuuka and grinned. Yuuka merely kept amusing herself with the outsider, with no indication that she was aware of being judged. A potent ally... and one that Satori feared... Remilia was certain she could find some use for the flower youkai. Beyond applying her terrific torture methods to her cooking, of course.

* * *

_**A Dark, Cold Forest**_

Renko turned to Maribel... "Hey, are you alright?"

"We're... going to die, aren't we?"

"No! No... we'll... we'll be fine." Renko's words sounded as hollow as they felt, though. Renko had set and splint Maribel's broken leg as she had lain unconscious, and the pair had managed to construct a pair of crude crutches. Even so, the walk was far from easy, especially with the added guilt of failing in their self-appointed rescue before it had even truly started.

"Thank you, Renko. I'm sorry for dragging you into this." Maribel was shivering... she was still in light shock from what had happened, and the pain she was constantly struggling with seemed ready to overwhelm her. Even if Maribel had been healthy, Renko still doubted their chances.

It was cold. Very, very cold. She hadn't noticed while being carried to the mansion, or with the constant excitement pumping adrenaline through her body... but it was well below freezing, and the pair were terribly equipped for this sort of weather. It seemed that every hour that passed caused the temperature to plummet even further.

To make things even worse, Renko had simply no idea where they were... there were no stars to guide them... nothing but nondescript trees, darkness, and a terribly insufficient beam of light from Renko's phone, currently serving as a light source. Renko swore she saw something dancing about just outside of the light, but never managed to turn the beam of light on them in time. Perhaps she was imagining things, but it felt like she was being hunted by a pack of wolves or something similar. Of course, the dead silence around her left her imagination to see things far worse than wolves.

Maribel stumbled again over a small hole... doubtless visible during the day, but now as unseen as whatever horrors hunted them. She caught herself with her hands, but her broken leg had hit something... a fact she had made clear by screaming in pain and collapsing to the ground.

"Merry! Come on... don't... give up!" Renko's teeth chattered as she spoke over a chill gust of wind. "Listen, can't you hear that? We'll just keep... going this way, and someone's sure to be there." Renko was trying everything she could to keep Maribel from giving in to the pain and despair, and thankfully, it seemed to be working.

"You... you're right!" In fact, Maribel looked... hopeful. It took Renko a few seconds to fully understand why, but then she, too, heard a beautiful voice singing a pleasant song.

"Right! Maybe... they've got some... shelter?" Renko proposed.

Maribel nodded, and with a great effort brought herself to her feet. With Renko's help Maribel held the makeshift crutches once again as the pair continued towards the mysterious voice.

It changed melodies several times, but never seemed to stop singing. Renko noticed the tiny beam of light from her phone becoming even more pitiful as they continued along, and the darkness that surrounded them threatened to cut them off from the rest of the world. Her shivering hands made the meager light dart around, adding shadows to the list of their stalkers.

Then, just barely, she managed to see a small bit of light apart from her phone. The voice was very near now... no doubt near the fire pit that produced the warm light. Renko began to hear a few other voices as well... the only light now seemed to be coming from the fire, and even that seemed to be fading, as though the darkness that surrounded them were as alive and hostile as it felt.

Finally the pair entered a small clearing, and beheld, of all things, a small food cart.

* * *

_**The Scarlet Devil Mansion**_

Remilia closed the door behind her. Unsurprisingly, Yuuka had decided to keep playing with what remained of the outsider's mind, rather than the presumably boring act of feeding Flandre. Remilia, however, knew that boring was a very, very poor descriptor of the activity. No sooner had the door closed than that delightful sense of danger sent an enjoyable tingle down her spine. With all that had been going on, Flandre hadn't been fed in nearly a week.

As the blond vampire lunged at her elder sister, Remilia gracefully sidestepped, then darted to put most of the food down on the floor, keeping only a blood glazed muffin in her hand. She had no sooner done so than Flandre's claw bit deeply into Remilia's side. The elder vampire turned into a swarm of bats to escape the hold, and a blast of energy wiped out several dozen of the bats as they shielded the muffin, forcing Remilia swiftly back into her humanoid form, catching the falling pastry as she did so.

"Flandre, come now, it's time to eat." Remilia said while calmly trying to sidestep another blast of magic. Thankfully, she'd had these walls magically reinforced centuries ago, for just this sort of situation. Flandre merely hissed as she continued striking at Remilia, the blazing red sword inspired by the legendary Laevateinn nicking Remilia here and there, burning her dress and limbs.

But Remilia had faced her maddened sister in times of worse starvation than this. While Sakuya had been doing this job lately, Remilia's body still knew how to avoid Flandre's frenzied attacks... a skill learned after countless weeks of agony ending with Remilia herself in a similar state of starvation. She had had the foresight to have a fresh supply of bodies on hand at the time, and even back then, she had had enough control over fate to keep Flandre from simply destroying her.

Any moment now, Flandre would go for the bite, trying to drain her sister to feed herself. Remilia waited, watched and avoided, still carefully holding and protecting the muffin. Finally, Flandre launched herself headfirst at Remilia, but instead of biting her sister's neck, her teeth sank deeply into the bloody muffin held in front of it instead.

Flandre swiftly grabbed the rest of the muffin and hastily devoured it.. a mere second later she looked once again to her sister, eyes still filled with hunger. Remilia kept her off balance by stuffing a bloody criossant being into Flandre's face, followed by a slice of cake that seemed to bleed, topped with a fresh eyeball in place of a cherry... Flandre kept devouring every foodstuff, only to find a new one already held out in front of her. With her hunger now focused, she ate, and ate...

Remilia was hard pressed to keep up with Flandre's appetite, but knew the consequences of leaving it unsatisfied. Flandre hadn't been this hungry since they'd first arrived in Gensokyo... Remilia's mind drifted to that time... facing down Yukari, the Hakurei Shrine maiden... and... another? She had been trying to make them see the nature of youkai that had nearly been forgotten.

"Flandre? Do you remember when we first came to Gensokyo?" Remilia asked of her sister. Flandre nodded, the blood from her latest pastry running out of the corner of her mouth, still stuffed with food.

"You fought them, didn't you?" Remilia's question raised an eyebrow from Flandre, who spoke with her mouth full.

"I'nno?"

"Now, now, just because I'm your sister doesn't mean you shouldn't have proper manners in front of me."

Flandre swallowed before continuing as she rolled her eyes. "I'm sorry. I don't remember fighting anyone, but you've asked me that before, I think. Why bring it up again?" The hunger had faded enough that she was now quite capable of feeding herself, and Remilia let her continue to do so.

"Yes, I suppose I have. It's just... I've always recalled fighting Yukari and that shrine maiden, but... now I can't help but feel there was a third." Remilia licked her finders, covered in various glazes and blood, savoring the exquisite taste of fear the outsider had felt when the blood was removed... she really would have to consider adding Yuuka to the mansion's residents. Remilia kept speaking, mostly to herself.

"Ah, well, I suppose it wasn't important. Much more importantly, it seems Yukari has failed to uphold her end of the bargain. I was able to drink from a villager earlier..."

"Ooohhhh. You mean I might be able to go out and play, soon?"

"Perhaps..." Remilia grinned. "Yes... I suppose if you went and reminded them just why they should fear vampires, then I wouldn't need to. Then I could go and deal with that nasty satori. What do you think?"

"The eyes are still out there, though, aren't they?"

"They... well, yes. They're not going to go away, Flandre."

"But you can make them go away! You made yours go away! You made the the maid's go away!" Flandre insisted.

"The rest of the world isn't quite as willing as she was to let me control it. I -tried- to hide their eyes from you, but Satori..." Remilia spat the name out... "Insisted on getting in my way."

"If she's been annoying you so much, why don't you just kill her? Don't tell me big sis got put in her place by some wimpy-" Flandre said mockingly, cutting herself off when she saw Remilia's expression.

Unthinking, seething loathing. Remilia stared at empty space... Flandre had never before seen her sister like that. Oh, Remilia had been annoyed, angry, and upset just as often as she'd been bored or amused... but this was far beyond any of that. Flandre -knew- Remilia wouldn't do anything to her... but her confidence in that truth was swiftly fading..

"Yes. You've made it clear. I've been putting it off for far too long. But while I'm gone, you have a job to do." Remilia turned her gaze to her sister, and Flandre felt a chill go down her spine as she replied.

"I'm not going outside... there are all the eyes... they're always... there. I'm not going out there..." Flandre shuddered... nothing her sister could do to her would compare to the eyes... seeing everything ready to fall apart at a touch, looking at her with a pitiful, accusing and judging gaze.

"Then you'll just have to get used to them, won't you?" Remilia said, and walked to the door... And released the fate magic that had protected the Scarlet Devil Mansion from Flandre's destructive clutch...

Revealing the ever so fragile eye of every brick that lined the walls, every leftover crumb scattered on the floor...

"No! Take them away again!" Flandre stumbled back, swatting at the eyes, trying to keep them away from her, and cutting huge swathes of destruction across the room as she swiped, every blast of magic she unleashed blowing away thousands of the unblinking eyes, and revealing dozens more for each one destroyed...

"Sis! Please! I didn't mean it! Come back!" Flandre's cries of maddened terror went unheard...

Remilia knew better than to stick around after unleashing her sister.

* * *

_**Scarlet Devil Mansion, Kitchen**_

"Time to go, Yuuka. It's time to kill Satori." Remilia declared to her sudden passenger. Remilia knew they had very little time indeed before Flandre's rampant destruction caught them up in it. She felt only the smallest concern for the Mansion; she had enough power to find or fund a new one, though in truth, it was more likely it could simply be repaired. Even so, Remilia couldn't be here to ensure the vampires were respected, and Yukari seemed to have abandoned her part of the contract, in any case, so it was up to Flandre to secure their place as the top youkai around.

Perhaps there would be a Gensokyo to return to, perhaps not... Remilia couldn't care less. No... only Satori mattered. And she wouldn't take a half-hearted attempt... there was no going back now. Sakuya, Patchouli, her mansion, her reputation... Remilia had given it all up to defeat Satori. All of it could be replaced once Remilia was in control. She could find a new maid, she could find a new magician, she could make new friends... but to give up now would demean those sacrifices... to have thrown it all away for nothing.

"Finally. This human was starting to have trouble staying conscious." Yuuka looked down at the head, freshly ripped from its body by Remilia's sudden movement. Even now, it looked around in panic and confusion. "Don't look all scared. Soon you'll die... and if I'm lucky, we might yet meet again!" Yuuka addressed the head, causing a few terrified tears to form in its eyes before all thought fled from it.

"Good work, by the way. Flandre enjoyed the food. If we get through this, you'd be welcome to join the staff here."

"It might be difficult to move my field, but your offer intrigues me, at least. I noticed your gatekeeper has a fine flower garden... I wouldn't mind expanding it into one more befitting of your nature."

"Ohh, good idea!" Remilia grinned at the thought... Yuuka would make a fine decorator, no doubt. "We can discuss this more once Satori is dead, though."

"Oh... You're simply going to kill her? After all she's done to you?" Yuuka pouted, tossing the head into a random wall as they continued flying through the mansion.

"The afterlife can sort out her sins against me... It's too risky to try anything more myself. I dare not underestimate her again, and neither should you."

"Fine. I suppose kill her and let them sort it out... crude and boring, but you make a good point. There's no way she can stand up to both of us at once."

"You fool! You're underestimating her again!" Remilia growled. "No, I doubt we could... but I just happen to know a third who could help us."

"Oh? I'm surprised you remembered me." Someone said from just around a corner up ahead.

"Who are... you?"

"I helped spread around those posters, if you recall. It seems that wasn't sufficient to kill that foul creature, so now I offer my insight into her being... I doubt any other knows her as well as I."

"Ha! If you wish, you may join us... though you aren't the third I was speaking of." Remilia told her newfound ally.

The three landed landed... in front of the cell in which Remilia had imprisoned Patchouli's pet demon, who lifted her head at their arrival and greeted them.

"You're back! I... I thought you'd leave me down here forever. Patchouli's back, then?"

"What? No. I just need to repair that connection I broke earlier." Remilia dismissed the stray thoughts of Patchouli that nudged at her.

"The connection- No! No, don't! Please!" 'Koakuma' begged.

"Ha! Look, she thinks pleading will change your mind." Yuuka grinned. "I don't know what you're doing, but you seem to have terrified the poor girl."

"Mhmm..." Remilia was wasting no time, devoting her full attention to the task... she had already swiftly destroyed the wards she had placed to keep the minor demon held. Koakuma had wasted no time in trying to escape, but Remilia was far too fast.

"Let me go! You can't open a gate... it'll kill-"

"Everyone, yeah, yeah. You've a silver tongue, really. I can't believe how long you managed to deceive me. That ends now, however. You see, I don't intend to make a gate. Perhaps if I find a replacement magician, I'll have her call you... you really are more impressive than I gave you credit for. Of course, that depends if anything's left of you when I finish this. I'm rather new to it, you see." Remilia babbled as she searched for something.

She smiled as she seemed to grab something. "Ah, here it is. I didn't think she would just leave the thread alone... and here it is trying its best to link back up... just a little nudge, and..."

Koakuma merely whimpered, caught in Remilia's grasp.

"Well? Don't keep me waiting." Yuuka stood impatiently... every second that passed was another one that her other half could find her before they found Satori.

"Yes... with my knowledge and your powers, let alone that of your friend... it will only be a matter of time. I've waited so long..."

Remilia leaned in close to Koakuma. "Now, I just need you to return to your mother's service... with us. I command you by your true name, Maatri'as'a." Remilia said the name, bringing the entirety of Koakuma's existence into Remilia's grasp... she sensed the other end of Koakuma's link to Shinki as her true name was spoken... And swiftly Remilia reached out to it, grasped it, and tied it once again to Koakuma, smoothly threading the link with a three more threads of her own.

And against her meager will, compelled by her true name, the little demon was pulled by her very nature... once sundered and now repaired. Maatri'as'a returned to her creator, unwillingly bearing her passengers.

* * *

_**Human Village**_

Hiroyuki looked over the revived village... It was almost... -almost- as if the recent horrors hadn't happened. And yet... there was that bit of tension... the few youkai that had reentered the village or were passing through were eyed carefully as they passed. The human village was more on edge, not quite so eager to let its guard down again.

Then Hiroyuki saw the unmistakable green hair. She was with several other humans, it seemed, though the entire group was clearly defeated. Hiroyuki moved his way through the crowd, his concern growing as he approached and the telltale signs of a spellcard duel became more obvious. Sanae's clothes were tattered, her hair unkempt, and her despairing mood made it clear she had not been the victor. What's more, she looked unusually pale.

Alongside her were a pair of platinum haired women... both looked familiar, and both carried someone else. A few more moments, and he was able to recognize the woman in the red and blue uniform as Eirin Yagokoro... he had had the ill fortune of needing to pay her a visit for the sake of a family member. Thankfully, Mokou had shown him the way, and the trip had gone without incident.

It seemed Eirin was carrying a rather bloody and beaten Byakuren. Hiroyuki winced as he noted the injuries. She was breathing, but that seemed ready to change at any moment.

As for the other platinum-haired woman... she seemed only vaguely familiar... she wore a simple outfit and needed help walking. She seemed lost and confused... perhaps an outsider who looked like someone he'd met? She had on her back an exhausted looking Kosuzu. Her family would be relieved to learn she was safe. One of the first things done when the people of the village had regained their senses was regrouping into their families. Their memories of the incident were rather well buried, their minds pushing away the pain as well as they could. Few had been missing, their fates unknown. Kosuzu had been one of them. In Hiroyuki's thinking, the girl had grown complacent and reckless under Reimu and Marisa's watch... perhaps whatever experience had left her so drained would open her eyes.

Hiroyuki finally reached the group, which had been quickly dismissed by the people of the village after a brief initial surge of interest. They had their own interests to look after right now.

"What happened to all of you?" He couldn't help but ask.

"Medicine Melancholy is no longer a threat, for all that matters." Eirin replied, with the others meekly keeping their heads low.

"That's great news! But... it looks like it wasn't an easy fight?" It would have been rude to ignore the obvious difficulty they'd faced.

"Oh, it was easy enough for the vampire. Is Udonge still at the Hieda mansion?" Eirin bluntly changed topics.

"She is, but... well, she's very tired... ah, that's right, you're her master, aren't you? Good. She's done a lot of good, but it would probably be best if she left soon... the village is rather tense right now. What about... wait... vampire...?" It suddenly struck Hiroyuki. The other platinum haired woman was the splitting image of Sakuya Izayoi, the vampire's maid. Without her usual uniform, she had been hard to identify... and the way she walked... it must be a close relative.

"It's a long story. I'll fill you in..."

"Sure, sure." Hiroyuki said, finally moving past Eirin and facing Sanae. Up close she looked even worse off. She looked nearly ready to faint, and her skin was nearly drained of color. Between Eirin's earlier comments and the two obvious fang marks on Sanae's neck, Hiroyuki didn't need to guess why Sanae was so drained. He quickly moved to offer support, and she took it without even looking at him.

"Sanae... thank goodness you're safe." Hiroyuki let out a relieved sigh as he accepted much of her weight. She turned to him and looked confused.

"Hiroyuki... you... you're alright?" Sanae nearly collapsed in relief.

"Yes... I was at the temple when the water supply was contaminated... We had a minor outbreak there as well, but we got it under control swiftly, thanks to that ghost being so sensitive to the water and Byakuren's warning. I hear you helped defeat Medicine... thank you so much-"

"It wasn't me... I... I was a fool." Sanae averted her eyes as they continued along. Hiroyuki bit his lip. She had been, there was no denying that... but reaffirming it probably wouldn't help her mood.

"You were just excited, that's all. Everyone makes mistakes-"

"I didn't even -fight- Medicine. I lost to her before I even realized she was the threat. And then... I almost died. Without Byakuren, I would have. Without Remilia, I'd still be enslaved... and yet, I couldn't even resist when she drank my blood. I didn't even want to resist."

Hiroyuki was thrown off. Sanae was usually a handful, eager to fly into a tornado just for the thrill of it. And here she was, hardly even willing to walk.

"She was probably doing some sort of youkai trick, Sanae. At least you're alive."

"What's it even matter? I can't exterminate youkai, clearly. Three times today I was humiliated at their hands. I saw Byakuren fight Yuuka... they were on an entirely different level. I'm in over my head..."

"Sanae... you do realize how little that means, right? -Everyone- is in over their head with Yuuka, Byakuren, or the vampires. Medicine Melancholy abducted nearly the entire human village on her own. So what if you aren't the strongest? You live on a mountain infested with youkai... you're the only human on that mountain that isn't pursuing enlightenment right now... yet you're still alive. That's testament enough to your ability."

"Oh no... I need to get back..." Sanae looked suddenly worried.

"You aren't in any condition to go there on your own. Rest up and-"

"No, no. They need to see I'm okay. Otherwise... well, Marisa might have been joking when she said it, but they really might make the mountain erupt if I don't get back soon. I... kind of ran off suddenly."

"So I'd heard. If you want to go back, I won't stop you, but I'm not letting you go alone."

"No! If... they see you. They'd... Hiroyuki, they found out about us."

"How? We've hardly even been meeting-"

"Satori..." Sanae's eyes burned with a barely concealed hatred. "That damned peeping tom of a satori... She told them."

"Oh... I... take it they didn't take the news well?" Hiroyuki was annoyed more than distraught. He'd prefer to have been open with their relationship, but it appeared concealing it had been the better idea after all. Sanae's breathing grew irregular as tears began to form in her eyes.

"Lady Suwako... wanted me to keep becoming a goddess... then accept a parasite... and you... well, you'd interfere with that. Lady Kanako thought... our relationship... was distracting me from work..."

"Well, I suppose it might have been... but your words have only convinced me that I need to meet them... to give them a good scolding if nothing else."

Sanae didn't even have the energy to wipe her tears away as she nodded. "Let's... go, then. Just... be... careful..." She said, before finally slipping into an uneasy slumber, the last of her weight shifting onto Hiroyuki.

* * *

_**Human Village, Hieda Mansion**_

"Where is Udonge?" Eirin called into the mansion. She wasn't expecting the reply she got.

"She's over here, resting." The voice came from a fair distance away, but after about a minute of carefully moving through the halls while carrying Byakuren's broken form and guiding Sakuya, Eirin managed to find the room from which it came.

Eirin entered the room, and nearly dropped Byakuren at the sight. Oh, Udonge was there. But the curved horn the protruded from her forehead in place of her usual ears was impossible to miss. Eirin had suspected Udonge might change, but never that it would happen so soon or completely. Toyohime and her pet, Reisen, sat quietly next to Udonge as the new Kirin sat, clearly struggling to stay awake. Udonge noticed Eirin as she walked in, and merely gave a brief exhausted nod.

"Master... it's good to see you again." Toyohime and Udonge said in unison before looking to each other and smiling a bit. Reisen merely shifted her eyes meekly.

"And its good to see all of you as well. as well. Sorry to put more of a burden at your feet, but..." Eirin placed Byakuren gently on the floor. Udonge grinned weakly as she replied.

"Her again? She just can't keep her nose out of trouble, can she? I'll get to her just after healing... Chen's the only one left, right? Go and bring her here, please." Udonge gave this last command to Reisen, who fidgeted nervously with shifty eyes as she replied.

"I... Um... err... ah... can't."

"Of course you can, she's the lightest of all of them. We're almost done... please, just do this." Udonge begged.

"I mean, well... I can't... because... we-didn't-bring-her-because-she-died-a-few-days-ago." Reisen closed her eyes as she blurted out the last few words quickly, hoping Udonge wouldn't hear them properly. Reisen slowly opened one eye to find Udonge in shock, and hurried to explain what had happened before Udonge could recover herself and become angry.

"A few days ago, the spell the purple magician cast that kept Chen breathing cut out. I tried keeping her breathing, but it's just too tiring to keep up for more than an hour, and... then she died."

Eirin joined in the conversation. "That would correspond to the approximate time of the magician's death."

"Patchouli... is dead... too?" Udonge looked shaken up about this, as well. Patchouli Knowledge had been a tremendous help... far more than her mistress had been. It certainly didn't ease the news that one of her patients had died. Had that ever happened before...? She'd always worked with Eirin until recently, and Eirin had never lost a patient as far as Udonge could tell. Whatever the case, she felt lightheaded over the death of Chen and Patchouli.

"Udonge, I know it's difficult losing a patient, but you must treat Byakuren soon. If you can do anything for Sakuya or Kosuzu as well, I would appreciate it. First, though..."

Udonge nodded and got down to all fours on the floor, tears spilling from her face as she touched her horn to Byakuren's forehead. The battered youkai Magician's body knit itself back together, and Byakuren let out a relieved sigh.

"I owe you my life once again, Udonge."

Udonge tried nodding, but as she tried to bring her head upright, she toppled completely onto the floor, her grief and fatigue finally overtaking her. Byakuren caught her and eased her to the ground, then addressed the others in the room.

"I wish I could return the favor, but I must return to help Alice and Marisa... I've got some knowledge that will be able to help gather the energy needed. I managed to overhear enough of the conversation, though I couldn't speak at the time. You, Eirin, need to find out exactly what we need to do -with- that energy. I -know- it won't be as simple as undoing the spell, with all the talk of an apocalypse you've been spreading." Byakuren said decisively before heading out the door, clearly shamed that she couldn't afford the time to attend to her savior.

"Apocalypse... are... are the demons coming here, next? But... it's only been a month! They can't have recovered that fast..." Toyohime was stunned as she turned to Eirin.

"What? Ah, you haven't been outside, yet. You should take a look out there, soon. You can probably figure out the rest. I've been meaning to ask you something, though. How exactly did the Lunar capital fall?"

Toyohime winced... "Yorihime... we called The Goddess of Makai, hoping to command her to command her troops to retreat. Yorihime... couldn't bind her, though."

"I find that difficult to believe. She was a master at-"

"She didn't have enough information... The Goddess of Makai seems to have obfuscated many of her titles... she broke free... and then..." Toyohime was beginning to tear up... Eirin waited for her to finish...

"And then I... used the fan..." Toyohime barely managed to stutter it out. She managed to keep some of her composure... until Reisen handed her the fan in question... tears brought on by the horrible memories streamed down Toyohime's face.

"I've been holding onto it for a while, but it's yours, so..."

Toyohime nodded... unable to speak as she simply stared at the weapon she had used to kill her sister and wipe out the Lunar Capital.

"You... used the fan... in the capital..." Eirin wasn't looking too good herself... Toyohime silently nodded.

"I see. Well, you couldn't have known. After all, I've always been great at throwing a carpet over my mistakes. And great at apparently having them find their way to me again."

"What...? The fan? You knew it was so painful?"

"Painful? No, it shouldn't be... I meant-"

"The goddess said... after she returned... that it had been excruciating..."

"And you trust her?" Eirin herself was dubious. "You truly take her word over mine...?"

Toyohime shook her head. "But if not the fan, then what?"

"You remember why I was exiled?"

Toyohime nodded, wiping the tears form her eyes. "How could I forget? It -was- our job to look for you, after all."

"Well, Princess Kaguya wasn't the first to consume the Hourai Elixir. I wasn't about to test it out on the person it was intended for, after all. Once I confirmed it had worked, I sequestered the test subject to preserve the moon's purity. If you used the fan, then the prison I constructed..."

"Was... blown away..."

Eirin nodded. "Kaguya's taken to immortality well... even Mokou has begun to adapt to it. But neither of them were locked away for several thousand years with no food or social contact."

Toyohime was speechless. What other secrets had Eirin been hiding? For how long...? And despite her reassurances, Shinki's words still haunted Toyohime. If it had been as painful as Shinki said, then this test subject...

"Now you see the problem? Not only does the demon queen have a Lunarian in her grasp... she quite possibly has a Lunarian as her ally... that subject may very well stop at nothing to get its revenge against me. Bearing that in mind, once you've had some rest to compose yourself, I'd like to ask your help. You may have some insights of your own that could help me find a way to counter what Satori has done." Eirin said, before leaving a stunned and worried Toyohime to look blankly at the fan she held in her hand.

* * *

_**Makai**_

Satori stood before the gate... a swirling, chaotic maelstrom... not usable as it was.

"I thought you killed most of the demons?" She asked, and Youki shrugged as he replied.

"I never found my way here."

The pink haired, humanoid demon that hovered before the gate was weak... laughably so, really. Yet she did impede their progress, laughing as she spoke with a confidence that Satori knew was quite misplaced.

"And you've little reason to come here. You will not pass through this gate without Mother's permission." _And if she won't even let -me- through, she's certainly not about to allow two nobodies through._

"I'm sorry to hear you think that, because we do need to get through. More specifically, we need to get through without your 'mother's' permission. So, if you step aside and open the gate for us, you'll be saving yourself a great deal of pain, Sara."

"How... do you know my name?" Sara narrowed her eyes at Satori. _I never introduced myself..._

"How many times will I need to answer this question? I read it in your heart. Now, let us through, unless you believe you can face the traumas your heart holds." Satori demanded.

"Shall I clear the path for us?" Youki asked. _She doesn't seem terribly powerful._

"No... nevermind your fighting style's risk to myself, it wouldn't help." Satori involuntarily shuddered a bit at the memory.

"You can't simply force your way in. I should know... it's been tried." Sara declared, and indeed, though she frequently fell to would-be-intruders, all her memories indicated that it wasn't possible to proceed past a gate Sara was assigned to without Shinki's permission. There was but a single exception...

"It seems Mima, Marisa, and the others managed to enter." Satori saw.

"You... know about them?" Sara was suddenly concerned. _The only ones to have gotten through... and all it took was a few words..._ Sara had let them through after simply being convinced to, with little more than the formality of a fight. _And then they failed... Shinki found out... no, I'll not be repeating that mistake again._

Satori laughed. "Indeed... and Marisa truly does have a talent for getting where she really oughtn't be, doesn't she? Now, I understand that Shinki punished you badly for their passage, but I assure you that won't be a problem, this time. Of course, that's exactly what they said, and yet your 'Mother' is still alive, isn't she? I'll not repeat their mistakes."

"And I'll not repeat mine. No entry." Sara was resolute on this point. As much as she wanted to be freed from Shinki's influence, she knew better than to tempt fate again.

Youki was patiently waiting, but growing more and more confident that the situation would come to blows._ I admire her sense of duty, but the way her loyalty was obtained... I don't envy her life._ Youki had fought enough demons to know that their society revolved around pain and torture. And Satori knew that Sara had been rather low in the ladder. Her duty may be important, but it was a lonely, boring one, and failures would be punished thoroughly.

"Well, I suppose I see why such a weak demon ended up on Gate Duty. No one else wanted it. But I can already tell you won't let me through. I'd better just give up."

"Good. I'll even let you take that insult with you. Now go away."

"I'm sorry... you misunderstand. I'm giving up on talking to you. I -am- going through that gate, I -am- going to defeat Shinki, and no one, least of all you, will stop me." Satori declared as she began casting a spell, gathering some of the ambient energy of Makai...

"Kill me if you want... You'll still be stuck here." _I wonder how she'll kill me first... Why? Why am I stuck with this position?_ Sara's face betrayed no sign of her mental frustration, and Satori paid it little mind as she finished the spell taken from Sara's own mind... and launched it in her direction.

Sara stepped out of the way, and the magic hit the unstable gate...

_No... how? Only Mother and I know how..._ Sara looked at the gate, confused. It had been stabilized... the moon's surface now clearly showed on the other side. Sara was able to perform such an act easily... but even Mima and company had needed Sara to open the gate for them... _this is -my- gate!_

"And I opened it, yes, yes. Come, Youki, let's go. We've a great deal to accomplish and I'd rather finish as soon as possible." Satori said, receiving a quiet nod from an awed Youki.

"No! I'm not letting your through! Never!" Sara cried out as she launched a blast of chaotic energy at Satori. Her target 'saw' the attack coming well beforehand, Satori's body responded nearly at the speed of thought, no longer restrained by the lack of vigor that had hindered her in the past. Satori smiled at the ease with which she had dodged the attack, drew forth her simple, poisoned wooden poles, and struck at Sara, neatly landing a soft tap on her cheek.

The demon managed to loose only a few more easily avoided blasts before the poison finished its work, preventing Sara's intents from reaching her body. _Move! Damn it! She hardly even hit me! What's going on? Why... can't... I... move!_

"Just be thankful I'm not the person I learned that from. Her choices for incapacitation were far less comfortable. Don't worry, though, Shinki won't hurt you if I can help it. Youki, try and stay close to me, but avoid being seen... It seems the way I'm consuming all this magic energy makes me 'feel' like a demon, or a magician to them, but you lack any such disguise." Satori explained. She had seen herself through Sara's senses, and indeed, Sara had believed her a mere magician until Satori had said those very words... only now did doubt creep into the paralyzed demon's mind.

"I will stay out of sight, but I may not be able to be near you. You seem to have an idea to end their threat more permanently, but I thought you would be best off warned."

"Thank you, I suppose. I know you don't like taking orders from me, but it truly is for the best. I wouldn't be surprised if Yuyuko were swimming in demons by now. Enough dallying... let's go." Satori checked her preparations one last time...she had plenty of damage decoys set up, a simple connection to Makai she could use to keep fueling her body, and now, having faced a demon, weak though she was... Satori stood convinced of her impending victory.

* * *

_**Front Gate of the Scarlet Devil Mansion**_

Meiling sensed the change in atmosphere easily. She had grown attuned to the life and air of the mansion over her years guarding it. Her own aura was interwoven throughout the mansion as a result of her long vigils. She might not be -confident- she could catch a fly trying to intrude, but she wouldn't be surprised if she did exactly that.

So when the Mansion's atmosphere seemed to turn inside out, Meiling struggled to keep her stomach from doing the same. -Something- had just changed within the mansion, and while she battled with the nausea that struck her, it was made very clear just what that was when Flandre's aura, even more wild and out of control than normal, tore through the roof. And if Flandre was free, Remilia wasn't here. Everyone at the mansion had agreed Flandre was far from ready to enter the larger world.

The mad vampire's aura made that clear to the gate guard. The vampiric aura twisted and writhed, as though trying to tear itself free from its own body. It was even more unstable than a fairy's... though its extreme presence dominated the air. To Meiling's trained senses, it seemed as though the sun had descended to the earth, and even now threatened to consume it. Meiling's heart pounded; she knew that the devastation Flandre could cause might exceed even that.

Flandre Scarlet swiped at the air, and every slash gouged a small canyon into the area around the mansion... a few times she hit the lake, exposing the lakebed in a strip several feet wide, though the nearby water swiftly filled any such gaps. More than a few eruptions appeared in the forest of magic, leaving it scarred and pitted with craters, and even the mansion itself didn't escape unscathed.

Yet, Meiling didn't feel vulnerable... not like when she had first met Flandre. After that first meeting, Remilia had done... -something-, given Meiling her new name and title... after which Flandre's presence had been merely unnerving, as it was now, rather than terrifying. Before that, Meiling had felt as though she were made of brittle glass near Flandre... now, it seemed the rest of the world had that same fragility.

Meiling wrenched herself back under control, snapping her aura firmly back into a steady rhythm. She calmed her nerves as she approached Flandre, whose aura flared wildly, though the darkness hid her physical form from normal vision.

"Young Mistress, please calm down!" Meiling called out as she neared the vampire. Flandre noticed Meiling, and sent a blast of magic in her general direction. Her aim was terrible... it slammed into the ground below. "Meiling! Take them away! Please! Get the eyes away... You don't have yours, you must be able to!" Flandre screamed at the gate guard.

Meiling felt her confidence growing at Flandre's comment. "Don't worry. I don't know what I can do about the eyes, but-"

This was not the answer Flandre wanted to hear... a fact the vampire made clear by grabbing Meiling by her shoulders and shaking her hard enough to dislocate them while screaming in frustration. Meiling did her best to block out the pain, but fear was growing within her heart once more... just because Flandre couldn't use her ability on Meiling didn't mean Meiling was safe.

"But I -can- help you..." Meiling said as Flandre kept shaking her. The martial artist focused herself, did her best to calm her own aura... using the close physical contact with the vampire to blend their auras, trying to soothe the maelstrom of her being. She acted almost like a filter, catching the shards of Flandre that sought to escape their master, then piecing them back together and returning them. Meiling had no idea how long this continued, and several times she was nearly swept away in the raging torrent of Flandre's aura.

The reliable gatekeeper stood, though... to fall here would be to doom not only herself and the mansion, but quite possibly Gensokyo and the world. Flandre was no fairy, who could be calmed and soothed with a mere nudge... Meiling bent her entire will to calming the storm that threatened to engulf Gensokyo.

No storm can last forever, though... and slowly, Meiling stole Flandre's thunder... the younger vampire's enraged shouts gradually became defeated sobs, her wild shaking becoming a lonely hug as she buried her head into Meiling, letting the gate guard's body block any visions of the innumerable eyes.

"Why? Why won't... they go away? Why are they back?"

"I don't know, but everything will turn out alright." Meiling said soothingly, though she felt a little awkward. She had calmed Flandre's mood, but convincing her everything would be alright... Well, that was beyond her. She would have to seek some help, but should she abandon her post? The decision weighed on Meiling's mind as her shoulders politely reminded her they were still dislocated, caught in Flandre's immensely powerful hug.

* * *

_**Marisa's House**_

"Right... going to the Scarlet Devil Mansion for books is out..." Marisa stepped back inside, where Alice was begrudgingly browsing some research materials.

"Of all the times to grow a conscience..." Alice moaned.

"Nah, nothing that silly. It just looks like Flandre's having a day out and about, and I'm just a -little- leery of getting anywhere near her right now."

"I suppose I can't blame you for that. I'll try and slip a doll in there if we really need some of the resources in the library, but it'll be a last resort, it seems. It's a shame, though... Patchouli did a lot of research with sun magic, and I can't shake the feeling it would be useful now."

"Well, I could just ask her... if I could -find- her."

"You... can't find her? How big can the Netherworld be?"

"Huge doesn't even begin to describe it... but I've used plenty of detection spells... and -nothing-. I've looked everywhere, but... well, alright, I suppose I haven't looked into the expansion yet, but that place is sealed off, so she can't be there." Marisa explained.

"Then you haven't looked everywhere, have you?" Alice said as she sent some dolls to gather reagents from around the room.

"Only demons are getting sent there, though... something about keeping the Netherworld pure or something. So again... she's not there... and I'm not too eager to poke my head into a beehive like that. Is something the matter?" Marisa noted that Alice's face had suddenly turned to one of horror.

"Have... you examined the criteria for being sent to this expansion in detail?" Alice refused to make eye contact, staring intently at the task in front of her.

"Of course not. It seems to have been working pretty well, though. Even those uptight people from the moon aren't complaining about the 'foul impurities of the earth' or anything. Well, not here, anyway. They're -still- crying about the moon being corrupted."

"Marisa... think a little harder... you do remember what sustains magicians such as Patchouli and myself... right?"

"Yeah. Magic from Ma...kai..." Marisa's sudden realization of what Alice was implying.

"That took you longer than I'd expect... You must have given up on becoming a proper magician. But yes, I wouldn't be surprised if Patchouli's spirit was infused with enough of Makai that she ended up with the demons. Poor girl." Alice felt for Patchouli... after all, Alice herself had been among demons for most of her life, and it was not an experience she cared to repeat.

"There must be... maybe there's a way to get her out?"

"I hope so, but it's not worth freeing demons into the Netherworld. Perhaps you can speak with whoever set up that filter, or look into it yourself. You know, when we aren't trying to find a way to gather enough energy to replicate a spell of titanic proportions?" Alice was a little frustrated at Marisa's lack of focus. The human witch had convinced Alice to trust in Satori's intentions and focus on saving the world rather than moping about the apocalypse... and now Marisa seemed likely to abandon that very task in favor of trying to doom the Netherworld instead.

"Good idea... there should be a way to get a message across at the very least." Marisa said eagerly before sitting and closing her eyes, assuming that relaxed posture that indicated she was focusing on her body in the Netherworld... or sleeping... or both. Really, it was a little unnerving... there was no telling when Marisa would suddenly spring back to life with some comment or another. Alice just hoped she wasn't in the process of something delicate next time.

* * *

_**The Former Lunar Capital**_

Pain... that was the first thing Satori felt as she exited the gate... and the second, and third, and fourth...

"Hey, pull yourself together, sis." Koishi's face and voice managed to break through the pain, but only barely.

"Wasn't... expecting... so much..." Satori had been prepared... she had even put up mental barriers much like those she had used to fend off the pain of the human villagers back in the forest... and yet, this was almost as bad. The demons undergoing torture had far more subdued mental voices, but there were so -many- of them... and their pain was so much -more- than the humans' had been.

"It's that loud...?" Koishi leaned as though straining to hear something. "You know, I think I can almost hear it. The air here is kind of.. weird. Not like Makai, but like... a weight?" Koishi was trying to put into words the strange feeling...

Satori, of course, recognized it as soon as she managed to recover from the shock of the pain. The tension was unmistakable, and the charged air seemed ready to erupt at the slightest hint of a spark. Coupled with the intense pain that washed over Satori, every instinct she had told her to flee immediately.

Satori, though, was a creature of higher thought, and continued on in spite of her instinct to flee. She narrowed her gaze, trying to drown out as much peripheral, painful noise as she could, and shielded her third eye with the Qi that filled it. It required a bit of fine tuning, but it seemed a fairly effective filter. Through this filter, the thoughts of the demons that surrounded her became clearer and clearer... and her heart nearly stopped when she realized what was on their minds.

The invasion was still on. The Earth had indeed vanished from the moon's eye... looking up now, Satori confirmed its absence... in its place was a rather familiar clay sphere. Yet, the demons saw this as but a minor setback. Their backup plan was already nearly finished. Satori wasn't able to pick up many details, but she recalled Aya's reports up to when she had been caught. Hatate's memory had shut out the event of Aya's actual capture, but the information she had been unearthing before... of a few humans captured, of some project being quietly worked on... of the demon's absolute confidence that nothing would stop them... not only from conquering Gensokyo, but many worlds after that.

The disappearance of the Earth had hindered the invasion, but thanks to some humans they'd recently snared and a Lunarian they'd found who was all too willing to help them, they were nearly ready to attack again.

"It can never be that easy, can it? So be it." First order of business would be freeing Aya... she might be able to offer more insight, or at the very least help interfere with the invasion plan while Satori dealt with Shinki. Considering what Hatate was going through, Aya's survival had much larger implications for the tengu of Youkai Mountain than she likely realized.

After that, shutting down their means of attacking Gensokyo would protect it at least a while longer should Satori fail... and even with her plan, she had doubts she would succeed.

Satori looked around and flagged down a nearby demon. It looked rather unassuming and humanoid... and she seemed just the sort that might be able to help her.

"Huh? I haven't seen you around, before." _A new magician? I wasn't aware more were still coming._

"I should hope not. I've come to Makai to improve my magic and-" Satori declared.

"Well, this isn't Makai, so..."

"Makai was rather empty. After finding no one with anything to offer me, I found my way here. Am I wrong to think I could learn anything from your kind, demon?"

_Well, she's quite skilled if she can tell I'm a demon just from looking. My disguise is pretty good... _ Satori found herself agreeing. Without being able to read the demon's heart, she likely would have been fooled... The demon appeared as a normal blond-haired young woman, wearing rather comfortable looking casual wear. Her demonic essence was well contained, however, preventing it from being easily detected by magic.

"You're certainly of a level that requires respect. Have you decided on the field within which you would like to focus?" _It's been so long since I've been able to give someone the guided tour... _

"Why don't you simply show me around? I've some thoughts, but it would be wise for me to see what you have to offer before making a decision."

"You're a bright one, you are. Come this way, then. Oh, and I won't be defending you from any attacks, so if you don't think you can manage, this is your last chance to turn back." _I should be able to get a good feel for her skill after a few fights. I'll just set up a beacon to draw in some lesser beings..._

"I think I'll manage fine should that happen. Though if I were you I wouldn't risk angering me. Say, by drawing some minor demons to us just so you can judge my skill." Satori grinned as the demon's face grew suddenly worried. "But I'm sure that won't be a problem, will it, 'Louise'?"

_When did I say my pseudonym? I... better watch my step around her._ "No! No, of course not! Come, this way. Let me show you around. I must say, you have quite an eye for details..."

"I find it makes it easier to learn everything from masters who might otherwise try to hide their best skills. I'm just so happy -you- won't do anything to try and hold me back." Satori grinned as she began to follow the demon that was already on guard and nervous, having swiftly lost its perceived high ground. There was a pecking order among the Demons, and Satori had just made it clear she wouldn't accept being at the bottom.

* * *

_Author's notes: Whew. Back on track. You see, Remilia did this thing where she didn't do what I expected her to, so I needed to think long and hard about how things might turn out. I'm beginning to get a bit worried that her fate manipulation's getting a bit meta. Stacking the odds even further against Satori is just cruel, Remi.  
_

_Hope everyone had a happy holiday period of their choosing. Mine was filled with some complications, but I clearly made it through. Thank you for your patience and your continued interest and input.  
_

_P.S. See? I totally didn't forget about Chen. Nosiree... totally remembered her. *cough*. In all honesty, I'm glad that 'little detail' was pointed out, as bringing it up later would have been far more awkward to bring to the foreground.  
_


	25. Chapter 25

_**Marisa's House**_

Alice briefly turned her head towards the knocking at the door. She shifted her senses to one of the remote viewing dolls she had placed outside, and saw Byakuren standing patiently.

"Come in, Byakuren." Alice shifted her sight back and watched a smiling Byakuren open the door.

"I really shouldn't be so surprised. You've always favored more remote sorts of magics, haven't you?" The sound of Byakuren wiping her feet accompanied her own entrance into the room.

"Ever since I became a magician, yes. I take it you're here to help with the research?"

"Yes... You were researching a way to harness a great deal of magical energy, right?"

"Yeah, Satori didn't exactly think through all the consequences of that spell she borrowed from Eirin's mind... and it sounds like Eirin herself had discarded it as too energy demanding. In order to undo what she did, we need a lot of energy. Well, I -say- we, but Marisa's currently looking for Patchouli."

"Ah... that explains her current... condition. I can't tell you how frustrating it was to be able to hear what you were saying and not help contribute."

"Well, after seeing what Yuuka did to you, I'd be pretty rude to demand anything of you. You're doing better now, though, I see. Eirin's really something, eh?"

"What? Oh, no, her apprentice, Udonge, did this to me. It seems she's a Kirin, now."

Alice pondered. "Really? Interesting... Kirin have tremendous vitality, don't they?"

"Indeed. I've never heard of one getting injured, let alone killed. Even Udonge, a young one by any standards, managed to heal me and cure the entire village's population of Medicine's poison, and she's only a little tired."

"Curious that I've never seen one before."

"It -is- odd. I suspect they've all retreated to realms like Gensokyo. I'm still rather surprised she's the first one here, though..." Byakuren shrugged. "There never were many to begin with, but this really seems the sort of place you'd find one."

"Well, if we can find a way to replicate what Satori did, then that vitality would be invaluable. Eirin mentioned that she drained Suika, Tenshi, -and- a whole slew of pets, and all that -after- exhausting all their magic."

"Well, we might not -need- to exactly replicate what she did. Which brings me to my next point... you weren't a human who became a magician, are you? You're a demon." Byakuren stated with blunt conviction, though no hostility.

There was no denying that Byakuren knew the truth... lying would just dig the hole deeper. "I am a human, but I wasn't born normally, no. I, like the demons, was created out of the energy of Makai by Shinki. I ask that you tell no one of this, please." Alice's shoulders sank in a show of humility. "Actually, I'm surprised Ran never followed up on that. She must be busy... But please... the fewer people that know, the better."

"I can see how it would cause you problems. Very well, I shall do my best to keep your secret."

"How did you find out?"

"The little stunt you pulled against Yuuka. I may have been drained and broken, but even I like that I was awakened when I sensed the amount magic you were discharging. There's no way a human body could have that much... not even a formerly human magician." Byakuren explained.

"Well, good on you for figuring that out, I suppose. Want a medal?"

"No, but it brought to light a very important point. Satori needed to convert people's vitality into magic, but what if their vitality already -were- magic?" It wasn't a bad idea, but Alice looked at her fellow magician a bit anxiously.

"You know I wouldn't be enough..." she replied with a nervous laugh.

"Of course. You may have inspired the idea, but you're far too valuable to lose." Sensing the tension, Byakuren quickly calmed Alice's fears Alice, who looked relieved as she realized what Byakuren meant.

"Of course... the demons... there are countless demons! But they're all in Makai or in the Lunar Capital... neither of which is exactly right next door."

"That -is- the problem, yes. We need to find a way to-"

"No... wait... Not all of them..." An idea was forming in Alice's mind as she looked at Marisa.

"Well, of course not. There are bound to be a few scattered around Gensokyo, right? Not enough, though... and Satori was making it a point to get rid of them, I think..."

"Marisa was mentioning that there's an entire part of the Netherworld that's been dedicated to housing demons..."

"The Netherworld's really not any easier to reach, though, Alice." Byakuren said as Alice pointedly looked at Marisa, grinning.

"Not for you or I, no."

* * *

_**Lunar Capital**_

"And here you have our magical generation research area. Here, we look into ways of getting around that pesky limitation of having only so much magic within one's body." _There. That's everything except the interdimensional research, and I'm not to mention that to anyone._

"I don't really think you have anything to teach me in this field, either." Satori said the honest truth. She had learned a -tremendous- number of magical techniques of every sort through this tour, and there simply wasn't much to learn by the time she'd been given a guided tour. With her Qi supercharging her third eye, she had gained more magical theory than she'd ever thought possible. A great deal of it was focused towards destruction, pain, and control, but even those things had their place... helping to further block off the pain that surrounded her, for one. What's more, she'd managed to locate Aya as they had been moving around the area. Aya was still alive and being tortured, it seemed, and Satori resolved to go back to the residential area she had been in. For now, though, she had some important information to gather, yet.

"So which would you like to pursue? You say we can't help you much, but-"

"You think I haven't noticed a rather obvious omission? One can't simply walk into or out of Makai, you know. I certainly didn't. What of your interdimensional magic? I'm curious what other worlds there may be to explore beyond simply Makai." Satori said.

"We don't perform that sort of research here. There's no need to; we demons simply have the ability to cross worlds." The practiced lie rolled smoothly off of Louise's tongue.

"Then why was there a gate for me to enter this world? I don't appreciate being -lied- to, Louise..." Satori glared at the demon with a look that pinned her to the spot. "Why would you lie to me, Louise? I -thought- we had an understanding, -Louise-!" Satori didn't even need to use any magic... her supercharged body's Qi was overpowering enough to cause Louise to submit, and the firm tone of voice made it clear that Louise simply didn't have any other option. Satori felt ready to snap under the tension that still hung in the air, and she was taking it out on the poor demon, funneling that tension she felt through her gaze until Louise caved.

"Alright! I was supposed to hide it from visitors! Please! Don't tell Shinki!" Louise begged quietly., her furtive glances trying to ensure that no one else overheard. "You don't know what she'll do to me." Even now, some truly horrific tortures were going through the demon's mind.

"Oh, I know perfectly well. So what you're going to do is help me... or I'll deliver you to Shinki myself."

"Yes Ma'am. Yes! Whatever you say!" _She'd do it... she really would._ The terrified demon had been firmly reminded of her place, now.

"Then guide me to where this interdimensional research is happening. Do not make it obvious I'm in control, and do not waste my time by drawing undue attention to us." Louise's nodded as she whirled about and swiftly set off in the direction requested. Satori began to follow, but felt a twinge of worry, though she couldn't be sure of its source.

"Sis, are you alright? You're acting a little... odd, aren't you?"

"I'm fine, Koishi." Satori said, though she wasn't too sure about it, herself. "I won't really be able to relax until we're finished here, and perhaps the stress is getting to me..."

"Well, if you say so, I suppose... just... be careful. You're just... a little off." Koishi couldn't quite place it... her eye was still closed, and she couldn't quite connect properly with emotions, yet... but her sister was certainly acting... different.

"I will, of course..." Satori said. She struggled with the urge to let Koishi know her plan... know the risks it involved... but Koishi was one of the many people who must not be allowed to know.

* * *

_**Chireiden**_

"It's about time! Where have you been?" Youmu's nearly screamed at Eirin's image, hardly restraining herself. Several times now, her spirit half had been mistaken by one of Satori's pets as a prisoner of the blazing hell and nearly abducted. To make things worse, Suika was doing little more than complaining about the most extreme headache she'd ever suffered. Youmu was helping patrol, cutting down spirits that tried to escape... It seemed at least fairly effective in keeping the remaining ones under control, but even that activity had died down as the spirits had begun to submit. Now she was simply trying to keep herself occupied as the pets ran the hell rather smoothly and concern gnawed at her might.

"I've been busy, Youmu. It seems what Satori did drained Tenshi far more than I thought. Has Suika been having any difficulties?"

"Other than complaining about the worst hangover she's ever had, no." Youmu muttered.

"What? Why is she sobered up?"

"Because she was too drunk to even move, before, so I took her gourd away. Now she's hung-over instead."

Youmu watched Eirin nod simply. "As I suspected... Tenshi contracted a disease on her way up here. Celestials aren't normally touched by such things... and Oni don't normally get so drunk they need to sober up. I wonder if they'll ever recover... Well, I suppose it isn't really an issue if we can't find out what to do about the sun."

"You still haven't found Satori?" Youmu asked. If anyone would be able to, she had confidence Eirin would be the one.

"She fled to Makai, with... nevermind, it's complicated. She has escaped, though. While speaking with Ms. Hieda, I discovered something that might help. You remember that hell raven? Okuu?"

Youmu nodded. "Yeah, the one with the red eye?"

"Indeed. As I suspected, it seems that's the eye of the Yatagarasu. She has some power over... well, let's say 'suns'. Now, do you know how much control she has over that power?"

Youmu shook her head and shrugged. "I haven't talked to her much lately. It seems that Orin knows what's going on, so I'll just... talk to her about it, I suppose? Why?"

"If she has enough control, then we might be able to use an artificial sun to tide us over until we can figure out how to return the Earth to its proper position."

"Oh! Sounds... good?" Youmu wasn't sure how confident she was letting Okuu near the Earth... the hell raven was a bit of a klutz, and well... bird-brained.

"It doesn't, but it's better than the alternative. It should be spring, now, but the temperature's falling quickly. It was freezing a few days ago... fuel's already beginning to run low. Find Okuu, get the pot, and be quick about it. I'll check back on you every hour until you find her. Then, I'll give her the instructions... and then we hope that the world ends in neither fire nor ice this week."

Youmu nodded and quickly turned to race away in search of the hell raven... but she couldn't shake a persistent thought...

With Okuu on the job, fire seemed likely.

* * *

_**The Netherworld**_

"Hey, Reimu. You must be getting bored, lately, huh?"

"What do you want, Marisa?"

"I just wanted some help with a little thing... I'm sure you won't mind. It's not too complicated or nothin'."

"I've heard that before..."

"Well, I just wanted to chat up someone on the other side of that barrier. You know, the one here in the netherworld?"

"And you'd like to speak with a demon because...?"

"No! No no no no. Not a demon... Patchouli. She -must- be over there."

"And what am I going to get out of this?"

"I'll owe you a real big favor! And this shouldn't be that hard of a task, but... well, You've got a lot more experience with barriers and sealing magic, so I figured why waste my time when you're just looking for a reason to get out of here? Don't worry, I'll cover for you."

Reimu glared at Marisa... then looked into the depths of Hakugyokurou. Even if figuring out a way around the barrier -was- tedious and painful... it would -still- feel like a vacation from Yuyuko's demands and Yorihime's strict training.

"Alright, I'll do it. You'd better be not be lying about covering for me, though. The last thing I want when I get back is an annoyed Yuyuko."

"You won't need to worry about that. Trust me!"

"Fine. I should probably look into the barrier anyway. It looks like there's some sickness going around the Lunarians, so it might be leaking or something."

"Didn't even know they -could- get sick, I guess you're probably-" Marisa stopped, the sudden realization seizing her. "Reimu... what... are their symptoms?"

"Eh, their skin's kinda red, like a bad burn. Stings like nobodies business, they say. Some swelling. They're pretty well versed in medicine, but they can't pinpoint what it is. Something about allergies to complete purity or something, they're thinking." Reimu said.

"Medicine... of course she'd be here... Dammit!" Marisa's curse caused Reimu to turn her head back towards the witch.

"What do you mean?"

"No, no... nevermind. You've got enough to worry about."

"Well, that's true enough. You can have that one while I go take this well earned vacation." Reimu said before flying out of the building.

"She must be really tired, huh? Didn't even notice you just outside of the room." Marisa turned to Yorihime as she entered.

"You did pretty well, not letting on that I was here."

"Sure, but it still would have been easier if you hadn't panicked when she mentioned that illness."

"Well, can you fault me? What's all this about anyway? You seem to have some idea, and... well, I -am- worried."

"Medicine Melancholy is a youkai of poison. She was recently truly and very thoroughly killed-"

"Don't you people use that spellcard game to... you know, -prevent- that sort of thing?"

"It seems it wasn't a proper duel, but a fight between two Youkai. Remilia... the vampire with the time stopping maid... remember her? She was the killer." Marisa explained.

"I see. So this youkai's been poisoning my people? Why...?"

"That's where it gets bad. Alice said that Medicine was... well, using the poison victims as marionettes, basically."

"I see. Well, if they're purified, there shouldn't be a problem, right? Though... we aren't used to disease or poison... Eirin's the closest thing to a doctor we ever really had, though my sister and I received some basic instruction."

"Can anyone among you develop an antitoxin at all?"

"Perhaps I could... and I can think of a few gods that could restore them as well. Unfortunately, if they find out that they're no longer pure... to say nothing of the Netherworld itself... well, their morale would be crushed. I'd better fix this as quietly as I can as soon as possible."

"Perhaps, but be careful. She defeated several of Gensokyo's best. When we faced you on the moon, it was with spellcards... and my thinkin's that she won't be so kind. And I just don't know what'd happen if someone gets killed in the Netherworld... actually, wait... no, I do."

"Oh? We'd been wondering ourselves. Care to enlighten me, o sage of the living and the dead?" Yorihime asked, assigning the title without even a hint of reverence. Marisa grinned as she replied very simply.

"Shikieiki Yamaxanadu would throw a -fit-. Huh? What's that, Alice? Oh... oh, good idea! Sorry, Yorihime... something came up." Marisa quickly explained before seeming to slip into a meditative state, inspiring Yorihime to go off and do the same, though their goals were quite different.

* * *

_**Lunar Capital**_

Satori looked at the... vessel. Calling it a ship was a little too much of a stretch, as it looked like no ship she'd ever seen, save perhaps some that had been floating around in the back of Sanae's head. The metallic hull was hardly shaped to move... at least, not in water. This vehicle was never constructed to sail, either... truly, it seemed more a building than a ship. Louise herself seemed to have little idea what it was for, but given its classification under interdimensional travel, she could make a guess.

"Interesting... I've never seen anything like it. Could I meet with the engineers? I'm extremely curious how this might work." Satori asked Louise, who looked profoundly nervous as she looked around.

"We aren't supposed to be here, remember?"

"Fine, if you wish, you may go. Tell absolutely no one of my interest here, though. I'm still going to go inside... I simply must learn more about this magnificent creation." Satori said truthfully. If she didn't, Gensokyo would likely just be the beginning of demon expansion. Louise took the opportunity to dart away as fast as she could, without a single thought of considering turning Satori in. Doing so would implicate herself... something she desperately wished to avoid, in case Satori ended up causing trouble. Satori let her go; she was finished with the demon, anyway.

Satori approached the enormous vessel, sensing that several beings were aboard it. There were unmistakably a few humans... though they felt odd, somehow. They seemed rather tense and nervous... a sense of fearful obedience reached Satori's eye, even through the walls of the ship.

The vessel had innumerable, intense wards placed around it. As Satori approached them, she picked them apart easily... it seemed that major demons all throughout the Lunar Capital had contributed to the wards... this really -was- supposed to remain protected. Of course, Satori had met those very same demons all through the world, and with her eye sharper than it had ever been, she had had little difficulty learning not only how to create these wards, but how to destroy them... and even how to simply pass them without triggering them, normally a task that would require each of the warding demons to be present to open a passage through their magic.

Even so, it took her several minutes to tease the magic apart so she could quietly slip through. Sensing a familiar, echoing heart around, she spoke quietly.

"You two should wait here. Blinding the wards to your passage would be too time consuming, I fear"

_So that's what she was doing..._ Youki's thoughts betrayed his presence. _I can try to remain near here, but there simply aren't enough places to hide..._ He thought of several places they'd passed that would work well to conceal him, and Satori memorized them.

"Until we meet again, then." Satori stepped through and closed the barrier once again behind her, leaving a magical wedge of sorts to allow her to swiftly escape, if needed.

* * *

_**Aboard the Mysterious Ship in the Lunar Capital**_

"Hey, you! What are you doing here! This place is-" The magician in black was swiftly interrupted by the intruder that had somehow managed to sneak up on her.

"Off limits to those without explicit permission from The Great Goddess, yes. What I don't understand is why you seem to be so willing to work for her. Ah... fear is a reasonable enough motivation, I suppose. Wouldn't escaping her clutch be even better than widening her influence, though? You believe that with more territory to control, it would be easier for you to slip away. That's true enough... but I can't let her expand her territory, you see." Satori found the answers to her questions leaping to the surface of the magician's mind.

"What are you doing? Stop it! I'm loyal!" Panic swept through the mind of Satori's victim.

"...Just not to Shinki. Don't worry, I won't tell her, but I wouldn't be surprised if your 'friend' will. After all, she could gain a lot of favor by turning you in, Yuki."

"No! She wouldn't! We're friends! Mai would never-"

"Oh? Mai, why don't you come out, already? I'm not going to let you get away." Satori turned her attention to the other, quieter, blue-haired magician hiding in the shadows, currently trying to sneak away. Upon being addressed, she bolted...

Satori wove a quick spell to disorient the fleeing magician, and before she could recover, used an illusion to further cloud her mind, and guide her back towards Satori and Yuki. Sure enough, Mai was turned around, and came bolting back into the room with Yuki and Satori. Satori swiftly caught her before she could halt her momentum, and held her close.

"Yuki! It's not what it looked like! I was going to go get help!" Mai desperately lied... and Yuki seemed willing enough to believe her. Satori, though, wasn't about to let such a deception happen if it could be avoided. She tightened her grip on Mai, to make it very clear who was in charge here.

"Mai, I will not tolerate such lies. The part that annoys me the most though... is that you feel as Yuki does. You don't wish to work for Shinki any more than she does. You're simply more willing to betray her trust to ease your escape."

"Don't believe her, Yuki! You know I would never betray you! We've worked together for years! What's shadow without a light? What's cold without heat, right?"

The phrase was well known to Yuki... it had been a sort of motto for the pair over the years they'd worked. It had taken a lot of effort, but they had eventually gotten their abilities to work well in tandem. Yuki drew heat from Mai's ice magic to fuel her flames and vice versa, making both substantially more powerful than either alone... It was this combined technique that had earned them any respect at all amongst the demons.

"Of course, Mai. I trust you more than... this intruder." Yuki said as she began conjuring flames. Her conviction... her faith in her friend burned brightly.

"Pay attention to what I'm about to do here." Satori said as she held Mai close... and created a link between herself and her victim. It was slightly different, applying it to a being like Mai instead of Sakuya, but hooking the damage diversion magic was trivial enough in Satori's current overcharged state. She saw Yuki's trained senses carefully watching... and the horror as she realized what Satori had done. Mai had realized it as well, and her terror grew.

"You... You evil, horrible monster... taking her hostage!"

"I've been called worse... and I'm not nearly so bad as the demons outside. It seems you two have been assigned to work on this ship..."

"You should... ahhh... probably go ahead and tell her what she wants, Yuki." Mai nervously stammered out. Satori grinned at Mai's nervousness, justified though it was. If Yuki' and Mai's situations had been reversed, she knew Mai wouldn't have hesitated even a moment at the hostage situation.

"No need, Yuki. I know. It seems you two have been mostly assigned to keep the lead engineers on task. I know where they are; as humans, they're particularly loud... but I'd like you to lead the way to them. I have some matters to discuss with Yumemi and Chiyuri."

"How... how do you know all this? Even their names?"

"Well, that question always comes up sooner or later. I'm rather surprised it took so long... usually its the first question I get. I'm reading your hearts. And don't worry, Yuki... Mai won't betray you so long as you remain useful to her. The same goes for me, actually."

"I'd never betray you at all!"

"I know, Mai. Let's just... the engine room is this way. Just... swear to me you won't hurt Mai."

"So long as neither of you do anything to justify it, I so swear. I'm afraid I need to leave the connection I've forged in place for a time yet, however... just in case."

Yuki frowned, but was in no position to alter the deal. "Very well. We'll need to stop by-"

"The generator room to readjust the temperature regulation spell to account for my presence on the ship, yes, I'm aware. We can make a quick stop there... this ship needs to be ready to get underway, and quickly. And don't worry about those lesser demons posted throughout the ship. They'll be easy enough to avoid."

"Right... let's... let's go..."

* * *

_**Netherworld**_

Reimu walked back in through the door of Hakugyokurou. Marisa looked up expectantly. The shrine maiden looked run ragged... in part from her new lifestyle of waking early and going to sleep late, but particularly weary from her recent task.

"You owe me, Marisa." Reimu said, handing Marisa a small charm.

"You and everyone else in the world." Marisa said, eagerly looking over the charm. "So... what do I need to do with this?"

"Just use it as a focus for the communication spell you want to use. Words imbued with the power of the charm will slip through the barrier." Reimu said as she collapsed onto the welcoming wood boards that made up the flooring.

"You're a real pal, Reimu. Now I can get a hold of Patchy... Whenever a barrier's involved, just ask Reimu!"

"Marisa, next time you suggest I do something that might get me an earful from the Yama, please just blast me with master spark or something instead, alright?"

"Ah, so that's where you were all this time."

"Don't I wish her lectures were that brief... no, the barrier was complicated enough to keep me busy. I just -know- the Yama will lecture me, though, and I just hope you're around for me to point her at. You -owe- me."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it, already. Now, to let Patchouli know what's going on... ohhh, I hope she's alright."

"Shame about her getting caught on the other side, though-"

"Reimu!" A yell from the depths of the estate made the shrine maiden groan. It wasn't time to train, so it must be Yuyuko demanding something.

"I'm on my way..." Reimu moaned, repeating herself more loudly as her name was called again. She wearily picked herself off the ground and hovered towards the voice. She turned back to Marisa "I want a full explanation as soon as we both get a chance... I'm feeling awfully left out of the loop."

Marisa nodded her assent and watched Reimu go. Considering how hard Yuyuko was driving Reimu, it would take a miracle for the chance Reimu wanted to appear.

Marisa looked outside quickly to ensure there were no eavesdroppers. The crude Moriya shrine that had been constructed here for whatever reason stood alone outside, the Lunarian crowd a fair distance away. Returning to her seat, she used Reimu's charm to open a communication link with Patchouli and prayed for success.

"Patchouli?"

_Marisa? How in the Devil's name can you reach me? Has that damnable barrier fallen?  
_

"No, I'm afraid you have Reimu to thank for this annoyance. Now, first... are you alright?"

_Touching. I suppose I'm as alright as I can be while surrounded by demons. Thankfully, without that sickly shell I was in before, I was able to make great use of my spells to keep myself from getting trampled over after some... rough starts. It seems I've finally been deemed 'not worth bothering.'_

"That's a relief. I was worried you-"

_I didn't start with that designation. These demons know a damned lot about suffering. Hey, I just thought of something that'll cheer me up, though._

"Errr... alright?"

_Yeah. You'll be returning all those books to me, soon. Then -you- can be the demon's plaything for days while -you- get -your- footing._

"Hey, whoa! I -said- I'd return them when I died, and I meant it. I'm just not dead yet."

_You died, you're in the Netherworld, you owe me those books. I don't -care- that you happen to be alive as well. I'm going to need -something- to do over here, and watching you get your just desserts would do wonders for my mood._

"Lunasa's bringing the books here, now! I was going to show them to Yorihime, but if you want them back, they're yours. I mean, if this is a bad time-"

_Of course it is! Look, you went through all this effort to contact me, and I -know- it wasn't out of concern for a fellow magician. What the -hell- do you want, Kirisame?_

Marisa winced at the pointed, less familiar use of her surname.

"Well, that -is- why I wanted to contact you, but while we're talking-"

_Get. To. The. Point._

"We need to perform a ritual requiring an enormous amount of energy... and Alice mentioned to me that the demons in the Netherworld could be a source of such energy."

_They could indeed. In fact, the only reason they leave me alone now is because I've found a way to cast spells directly from their bodies. Leaves them too drained to dodge, and leaves me with as much magic as I need. So yes, I've already discovered that little fact on my own. But there's a problem and a solution to using their energy for your ritual.  
_

"Could you... um... -please- tell me?"

_Oh, I'll happily enlighten your worthless self. You see, just because there's nearly limitless energy here, doesn't mean a thing for doing a ritual out in the world of the living._

"So what's the solution, then?" Marisa feared she knew the answer...

_You, of course. If you come to this part of the Netherworld, it ought to be simple enough to use your split soul as a conduit to channel the energy. Of course, channeling -that- much demonic energy as their bodies are stripped away to their souls is going to carry a lot of residual pain from the Demons, here, and the magic itself is likely to warp your soul or kill you. Your suffering will be at least equal to what I went through these past few days... a personal hell of torment beyond human imagination... but that's a price I'm willing to make you pay._

Marisa let out a nervous chuckle... Patchouli seemed to be in a particularly bad mood. "Well... that's... that's simple. Good... good work, Patchouli."

_Oh, no worries. Just let me know if we're going through with this. You'll need me to channel the energy through you, of course. And don't forget to bring those books..._

Marisa couldn't see Patchouli's expression, but it wasn't hard to imagine her wearing a wicked sneer. Marisa added one last thing.

"Oh, and you may want to know, but Medicine Melancholy is here and-"

_-KILL HER-!_ Patchouli's mental voice was livid, nearly sending Marisa flying with the mere force behind the thought.

"Very funny, Patchouli. She's dead."

_Then erase her existence! Destroy her soul! Send it over here for me to do it! It's her fault I'm here... -I'm- here, and -she- gets to relax in the Netherworld? Oh yes, I'd very -very- much like to settle my score with her... but I'm not -so- petty. -Anyone- can annihilate her, so long as it's done._

"Right... Take care, Patchouli." Marisa quickly said and cut off the connection before terror could overwhelm her. Patchouli hadn't seemed like herself when Marisa brought up Medicine. Marisa had never seen Patchouli get anything more than annoyed. Alright, -very- annoyed, judging from the first part of their conversation, but outright loathing like that was unlike her. Marisa wondered just how... or if, she should share Patchouli's plan with Alice and Byakuren.

* * *

_**Aboard the Mysterious Ship in the Lunar Capital**_

"They should be just in here." Yuki said, and both Satori and Mai nodded their heads in agreement. Satori, of course, knew they were... knew that they had no idea there was an intruder on board, let alone that their guardians and wardens had already been defeated. Satori had been able to guide Yuki and Mai away from any demons on board. The fewer beings that knew of her presence here, the better. Satori took care to shield her mind against the powerful human emotions she knew would pour through the door when it was opened.

Yuki opened the sliding door, revealing an immense, complicated device of some sort, and removing one of the last barriers between Satori's mind and that of the two humans.

"Yumemi, Chiyuri... we need to talk." Yuki said as the trio entered the room and sealed the door behind them.

Panicked thoughts... _Oh gods... they didn't find out... no. No, they're... probably just here to make sure we're alright and still working. Just say what we always do... 'it's just taking longer than we thought'._

"Of course! Here, let me just get back up... Chiyuri, get up here." A few moments of grunting noises followed the reply before a red-haired woman in a red outfit squirmed her way out of a narrow gap in the machinery. Moments later, she was followed by a blond in some uniform that might have been white before getting covered with grease and oil.

Satori hadn't even been able to tell something was odd about the hearts of these humans until being exposed to them in person... but now it stood as a glaring omission. They were completely devoid of magic. Even a human... no, even the few outsiders Satori had encountered had more magic than this. In this realm, now suffused with magic from the mere presence of the demons, these two were notably deprived of it.

And yet, they both had tremendous minds. Perhaps even Eirin could learn something from either of them. Certainly their technology and understanding thereof was far beyond anything Satori had seen or read so far. Only the Lunarians might be able to compete, if what shattered fragments of memory Eirin had had while Satori was extracting the repair spell were any indication... And yet, they hadn't even the faintest idea of what magic -was-, let alone how to use it... despite seeing it several times, now.

"We got a new guard, then, Yuki?" The red haired woman gestured towards Satori with the wrench she was holding. Satori answered for the still-nervous witch.

"No. In fact, I've brought you two more people who wish to escape from here."

_It must be a test of loyalty... _ "Two -more-? What do you mean?"

"I mean two, in addition to yourself and Chiyuri, Yumemi. To name them, let's call them Yuki and Mai."

Chiyuri herself was skeptical, though none of it showed on her face. _Just play it like always, Yumemi..._ "Look, even if you've changed your minds and told us that we -can- go free when we finish, it's not going to speed things up. It's just going to take some time, alright?"

"You mean it will take as much time as you make it. You've been stalling completion of this interdimensional ship until they become convinced it isn't worth investing all this security into, when you'd be less guarded and perhaps able to escape. A reasonable plan, though I'm not sure how you'd have been able to defeat demons with no magic. I suppose you wouldn't have believed them even if they -had- told you of your deadline, though."

"Deadlines be damned, it'll be done when it's done, alright? We're trying as hard as we can!" _She isn't buying it!_ Yumemi was getting defensive.

"Well, unless it's not finished in five days. That's when they were going to kill you all and send a new team to finish up the work." Satori's flat declaration caught all four members of her audience off guard.

_They wouldn't! We've served them faithfully for as long as I can remember! Mai and I are too useful to be discarded like that!_

_It'd be just like them... Dammit. If Yuki didn't keep dragging me down, I'd be too important to be killed over something like this._

_Why... why wouldn't they tell us? It would only motivate us more, wouldn't it? Maybe... yeah, she must be lying._

_I told Yumemi this plan would only work for so long! We need to figure out a way to overpower them!_

"I assure you, I'm not lying. The demons intend to use this ship to invade many, many realms. They have some other plans, as well, but this is the one they're all expecting to work. You two..." Satori turned to the magic-empty humans... "Might not realize this, but they only need a few demons in a realm to begin a thorough invasion. Reducing the crew capacity of the ship won't actually have slowed their spreading by any meaningful amount."

Yuki and Mai nodded their agreement before Yuki spoke to Yumemi and Chiyuri. "I can't believe you'd sabotage the project! I defended you against all those accusations!"

Satori interrupted before the yelling match that was about to start could gain momentum.

"You may have that discussion when I've gone-"

"Who do you think you are to barge in here and act like you know every-" Yumemi interrupted, only to find that Satori did the same to her.

"I am Satori Komeiji. I am going to save your lives because it is necessary to do so. If you would -prefer- to be tortured to death, perhaps I could give the demons some pointers. I have been through countless torments, and know that even worse yet lie ahead. And I could show you all... every... one." Satori growled... the demonic power that fueled her body started to flare up, barely controlled. Her patience had worn so thin that even the magically-deaf Yumemi and Chiyuri couldn't miss seeing the seething hatred beneath it. The room grew silent save for Satori's voice as she suddenly regained her composure with a light, silence-shattering cough and resumed speaking.

"For now, you four need to get this ship operational, and quickly. And yes, Rika, and Rikako should probably go with you."

_What about Chang'e?_

Satori considered, scouring the four other mind in the room for that name. Rika and Rikako had been willing to stall the project, but Chang'e had been doing her best to actually get the ship up and running. What's more, the woman seemed dangerously unstable, if Yumemi and Chiyuri's minds were to be trusted... rather powerful, as well... she had actually bested Yuki and Mai the one time they'd thought she was slacking off.

"I can't know for sure without meeting her, and I'm not sure I'll get the chance. I'll leave that decision to you. I will tell you though, that she seems to be native to the Lunar Capital... which I had thought completely destroyed. I don't know if she simply betrayed her fellows and was allowed to live as a result, or if she somehow survived the demon invasion and joined them afterward, but she's betrayed her last community in one way or another, and you -may- be next."

"Some help you are." Chiyuri scoffed, earning her a soft slap from Yumemi. _Don't get us killed, idiot!_

"I'm helping as much as I can. Now, you'll need to know where to go, of course. You were able to track magical energy, but you chose a rather unfortunate type. Instead of tracking the magic that demons use, you'll want to go where youkai thrive... they use a very different sort, and I suspect you'll be able to adjust your sensors to detect it easily enough once you have a youkai here. Unfortunately, with how I've been keeping myself fit lately, I won't be of much use, but I know of one that might." Satori spoke swiftly and decisively.

"You have a way with words, don't you? I'm even tempted to believe you... none of those here even know those sensors you mentioned exist, let alone how we followed them here." Chiyuri mentioned from her spot in the machine... an engine of sorts, if Chiyuri and Yumemi had any idea what they were doing.

"And now I'm one of the few people who knows how they work. Calibrating them so they simply zeroed out in your home world, then traveling to another world and following the first unknown energy signature you found to its source... elegant in its simplicity."

"It was an obvious enough solution... and I'm finding your claims more credible by the moment. So... why? Why are you helping us?" Yumemi said.

"Now that... I can't really tell you. I can't tell you what I don't know, you see. Sorry, but may I borrow that wrench a moment?" Satori gestured to the odd looking metal tool Yumemi held. The redhead shrugged and tossed it in a gental arc to be caught gracefully by Satori.

Yuki looked a bit nervous. "We... we can't just leave, though. The Goddess will be able to find us... There's no real escape from her..."

"There is indeed. When you get to Gensokyo with this vessel, seek out Alice Margatroid. She's been hiding successfully for years, now."

"Alice...? -Alice-! She... oh gods..." Yuki was overwhelmed... _She managed to get away after all! I'd always hoped and feared she had. but... wait, does that mean the book is more than just a legend as well?  
_

"It is a very long story, and a very interesting one. Suffice it to say, yes, those two legends at least are true."

Yuki turned to her side happily. "Mai! We're going to meet-. Mai?" _Where did she go?_

"She's going out the same route we came in." Satori smashed the wrench into her own right foot as hard as she could. She felt the magic carry the force of the blow away... and heard Mai's scream of agony from down the hallway.

"You should probably go bring her back. And be very careful that she doesn't escape. It'll be a bit tougher with a broken foot, though, so she shouldn't give you much trouble." Satori said to Yuki, who darted off after her companion.

"What was that about?" Yumemi was very confused. She knew she had just witnessed magic, yet remained clueless as to what had happened.

"Long story. Thanks for letting me borrow this." Satori said, lobbing the deformed tool back. "Sorry about its condition. One more thing. If you wouldn't mind seeking out a Magician named Byakuren and showing her this ship of yours, I think she'd be very appreciative. Alice will know how to find her, so you should at least accompany Yuki and Mai that far. And don't worry, they -do- wish to leave here and escape Shinki's grasp, just as you do. The wards around the ship will likely clue you in as to when to start preparing for immediate departure."

"Satori Komeiji, you said? Well, if we -do- get out of here, I suppose I'll owe you some thanks, huh? For all our sakes, that had better be the case."

"You're better off not even mentioning me at all, truly. Take care... I doubt we'll meet again." Satori said, heading off herself, leaving Yumemi holding a completely ruined wrench and thanking her foresight in having several others at hand.

"Let's get to work, then. One way or another, we'll be finished with this place, soon, eh Chiyuri?"

* * *

_**Marisa's House**_

"Reimu's a genius, I'll tell you." Marisa stood suddenly, nearly knocking over the pot she had been irreverently placed beside. "Hey, what's the big idea, stuffing me in the corner like some furniture?"

"We needed the room to work, Marisa. Next time you fall asleep in the middle of the floor, I might just toss you into a snowbank instead. Now then, I take it Reimu was able to do what you couldn't?" Alice's phrasing of the question bothered Marisa.

"I -could- do it, of course, she just did it faster, as you can tell. So I had a talk with Patchouli."

"And?" Byakuren was nearly as anxious as Alice to hear the news.

"The good news is that Patchouli has actually already come up with a way to cast directly from a demon's body... tested, used, magician approved."

"Given the look on your face, there's a catch. What's the bad news?" Byakuren finally walked over to Marisa after putting down the reagents she was working with.

"Well, the Netherworld isn't here... and we need the energy here... and the demons are in the Netherworld..."

"So we just need a way to connect the netherworld to this world. Hey, Marisa, aren't you-"

"Yeah, Patchouli had the same thought. My body should work as a conduit for the energy."

Byakuren gasped. "Marisa! You can't be serious! You don't have any idea what that much energy would do to you."

"Patchouli gave me a few ideas. Immense pain, probably dying again. She made it pretty clear it would be painful, though. -Really- clear. I don't think she much likes me, anymore."

"I don't think she much liked you at all, Marisa." Alice pointed out, refusing to leave the table where she was busy scrawling some notes and circles.

Byakuren shook her head vehemently. "No no no... well, yes. Given the amount of energy we're considering, though... your body wouldn't be the only thing ripped apart. It will likely be enough to tear your very soul asunder... at the very least, you'd be more demon than magician, and almost certainly not... well, as human as you are... when it was finished."

"That bad? Well... got any other ideas, then? Because if not, we're in trouble."

"No. So we'll make do... I'm somewhat familiar with the effects of demonic energy on a human body, you might say. I'll try and find a ward to shield you from its effects. Alice, I could use your help; your body's unique composition will help with the experiments. Marisa, you'll need to prepare the glyphs to contain the energy once we get it over here."

"You're really getting into the mood now, aren't you?"

"I never stopped -being- a Magician, Alice. I merely stopped indulging in my youkai nature. Now, though... well, it's better to simply follow my heart... right?" Byakuren asked, still not entirely sure about embracing that part of her identity.

"I doubt anyone cares that you're trying to save the world for selfish reasons. So long as we actually -do- save the world, I think your youkai nature is allowed to shine through." Alice said with that distant, appraising tone she favored.

Byakuren and Alice swiftly lost themselves to their experimentation, and Marisa felt like an outsider as she watched them for just a few minutes before collecting herself enough to begin work on the magic circle to distract herself. The one that would contain enough energy to correct a global catastrophe... that would all pass through her. She shuddered as the enormity of the task they were going to attempt weighted heavily on her. The world was an awful large burden, and she'd be lifting it on her own shoulders, it seemed.

* * *

_**Chireiden**_

"Alright, do you understand, Utsuho?" Youmu asked again.

"Yep! Just make a tiny little sun, right?"

"Exactly. Now, show us how small you can make it." Eirin prompted through the communication spell.

Utsuho focused as her friend Orin watched on... she first made a rather typical sphere... a good three times her size, easily.

"It's... got to be smaller than that, Okuu." Orin helpfully pointed out. "like... a lot smaller than that pot miss Satori used."

Utsuho nodded and continued to bend her will towards the sphere. It shrank swiftly down to the size of a person... then began to appear unstable and wavered slightly.

"Ahhhh... is that... supposed to be happening?" Youmu asked nervously.

"Energy too great for this size containment field. Venting excess energy in ten seconds. Evacuation of the immediate area is advised." Okuu rattled off, causing Youmu and Orin to skitter well away, around several corners. Eirin, of course, merely closed and covered her eyes from the impending discharge. Okuu counted down...

"3...2...1... Discharging excess energy" A blinding light filled the nearby halls, and after a few moments, Eirin saw the stabilized sphere, now approximately the size of a child.

"Getting better, but it needs to be smaller, yet." Eirin coaxed as Youmu and Orin cautiously reentered the room. The artificial sun continued to shrink to about the size of a toddler... then just a little more.

"Minimum stable reaction sized accomplished. Further reductions will remain stable only for brief and unpredictable lengths of time. Such reductions of fusion reaction are not advisable for sustainable energy output." Utsuho continued in that oddly focused tone of voice.

"Well, Youmu? It's hard to judge from here... any chance of that fitting in the pot with the world in it?" Eirin asked.

Youmu carefully judged the size of the sun, comparing it to the size of her spirit half... The sun was certainly smaller than the pot, but there was simply no way it would in the pot with the world in there as well.

"No... I don't think so."

"Of course it couldn't be that easy... Alright... time to change tactics. We won't be able to do anything about the darkness just yet, but we can at least stop the world from freezing over while we figure out how to appropriately create the sun... I'm going to need you all to heat the pot. Gently, at first, but keep raising the temperature slowly. I'll pay attention to the temperature up here and tell you when to stop." Eirin commanded, and the meeting moved to the room with the pot.

Youmu walked nervously as she thought once again of -the- pot and shuddered. To think, the whole world could break with one clumsy step...

* * *

_**Hieda Household**_

Udonge awoke rather refreshed. She got out of bed and stretched as she let out a silent yawn.

"Feeling better, then?" Tewi said, looking at Udonge. Udonge responded first with a startled glance at Tewi, then a more thorough visual inspection of the room. Satisfied there weren't any immediately obvious traps, she turned her attention to Tewi.

"Yeah... how long was I out? It feels like I slept for a week."

"Eh... about a day or so, maybe? Really, I don't know if I'd have recognized you like that if they hadn't told me."

"You mean the horn...? Yeah... I don't really know what happened there..." Udonge gently touched the still-unfamiliar horn.

"Huh? Oh, wow... you should look in a mirror, then. Eirin seems to think it's got something to do with you pushing yourself too hard. She suggested you relax a bit." Tewi produced a small mirror and handed it to her.

Udonge took it and looked at herself. The Kirin's curved horn wasn't the only change to her appearance, now. Her lavender hair was now blonde, though it remained the same length as before. Shocked and confused, Udonge half-flung, half-dropped the mirror onto the floor, where by some small miracle it didn't break.

"Yeah, that was almost my reaction." Tewi picked up the mirror and looked it over. "Anyway, thanks for giving back the luck I loaned you."

"What?"

"Yeah, when that pain started up back at Eientei, I figured I wouldn't be able to make any use of my own luck, so I loaned you as much as I could before I lost control. Seems it worked out; you got me back up, so everything worked out." Tewi put the mirror away again, seemingly satisfied with something.

Udonge shuddered, thinking of the many lucky breaks she'd had. Mima doing... whatever she had done... her patients being rescued from the mansion, meeting Satori and gaining her support, escaping from Remilia several times, being found before freezing to death in the lake... the list seemed to go on and on.

"I suppose I owe you my life, then...?" Udonge admitted.

"Nah, we're even, now. And don't discount your true accomplishments as mere luck. You may have been in the right spots at the right times, and fortune may have helped out, but you're where you are because of your own actions and decisions."

"This... isn't like you. Who are you and what have you done with Tewi?" Udonge wasn't exactly comfortable with Tewi acting so... kind. Or so insightful, come to think of it. She was still waiting for the punchline... the punchline that almost always involved a laugh at her own expense.

"Nah, I'm the Tewi you know and love. I just know better than to get on the bad side of a Kirin." Tewi tucked the mirror away and chuckled. "They're quite powerful, I hear. Even Eirin's a tad nervous around you, now. Maybe she's worried that you're a threat to her career or something, who knows. Tread lightly, Udonge... You're suddenly a person to watch carefully, and you're not used to the position you've been thrust into. That's all the free advice you get, though." Tewi said as she walked out through the door, fidgeting idly with her carrot-shaped necklace.

Udonge felt a chill run down her spine. She had no idea what was happening to her... if the transformation was over, whey was she still changing? What would change next? How long would she still be Reisen Udonge Inaba?

"Don't let the little rabbit psyche you out. She's a bit of a trickster, you may recall." Mima's voice announced her presence in the room, hovering near the bed where Udonge had been resting.

"Mima... thank you so much for everything. You saved the lives of all those people..."

"I do what I can to help. Now that you've recovered... it turns out I -have- thought of a way you might be able to repay me, after all..." Mima gently suggested.

"I'll do what I can... whatever it is, it was worth it to save those people..." Udonge was visibly nervous... many people had been saved... what equivalent deed would Udonge need to perform for Mima...? What could be worth the lives and sanities Mima had helped restore.

"My thanks, then, though you needn't worry so. It should only take a little of your power, and its well within your reach. You may have noticed that I'm not... quite alive." Mima indicated her ghostly wisps of a tail.

"I did notice that, yes..."

"Indeed. I would like you to bring me to life. A task well within your power, I think. Indeed, it should be quite easy... the hardest part of such a thing is retrieving the person's spirit, and... well, I'm right here."

Udonge nodded. She knew what Mima was saying was true. Healing all those people may have been draining, but restoring a single person to life... especially when that person was already present... it ought to be trivial. Especially if what Mima had said earlier to make Udonge push herself so hard held true.

"Of course! Just give me some time to focus." Udonge began to focus her power, intending to revive the ghost that had done so much, not just for herself, but for all the villagers as well. As she concentrated on her goal, she began to feel ill. Something told her that was she was about to try was wrong in some fundamental way... as she gathered the power of life she would need, her very nature screamed at her not to do this, even as her mind screamed at her to repay this debt.

Mima noticed the hesitation. "Please, Udonge. If anyone can do this, it's you."

_**DON'T DO IT!**_

Udonge stopped at the mental shriek. The energy she had been gathering seemed to fly away of its own will, and Udonge struggled to keep from retching as she felt something knot up inside of her, like her intestines were having some sort of tug of war.

"Udonge! Please, it's almost over... just bring life to this poor spirit, I beg you..." Mima hovered down to look at Udonge's eyes... eyes no longer the bright red they had been a short while ago, but now a deep, soothing blue. "Just please, try your very hardest. Life is at stake, here!" Mima begged.

Udonge nodded and gathered as much of her will as she could to shake off the distractions. She focused once again on her horn, bringing as much life force as she could into it... channeling as much of her tormented, resisting essence as possible. It was like swimming up a waterfall, but she would do it... for Mima... for the people of the village... for everyone that Mima had helped... she needed to do this. There was a debt to be repaid... she could do it, and she -would- do it! She reached out to Mima-

_**DON'T! DO! IT! THIS IS NOT -RIGHT-!**_

Again the voice screamed at her and her power flew from her control, wildly discharging and causing the potted plants in the room to bloom suddenly. Udonge sobbed in breathless agony as she felt the knot inside her pull taut. She felt like she was being turned inside out, and considerable will though she had, she couldn't stop herself from falling to the ground. She clutched at her gut, too weak from pain and nausea to even speak... hardly even able to breathe. She saw Mima's face as she looked up.

"It appears I misjudged you both. You must be ever so tired... I think you've both earned a very, very long sleep. " Mima said softly as she began to weave a spell over the incapacitated and confused Udonge, and moments later, the screaming pain was replaced with a sweet and merciful silence.

* * *

_Author's Notes: _

_Sorry it's a bit late. It's getting to that point where chapters might start coming out a little more slowly. You see, the pot gets harder to stir as the plot thickens. And then all those threads get tangled together into this big ball and I've got to sort them out. And then my metaphors get worse and worse...  
_

_I've also been writing some other fics, but they're little more than gleams in my eye right now. They're helping me get around some writer's block I've had for this one though, so it's all working out. I think.  
_

_Thank you everyone once again for reading and reviewing.  
_


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